STXIII - Welcome to Tomorrow
by Sanae
Summary: Set a year after Into Darkness. While helping one of their own, the crew of the USS Enterprise is threatened by an old enemy. Will Kirk manage to prevent a seemingly inevitable war?
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything. Star Trek (sadly) belongs to Paramount Pictures.

**Star Trek XIII - Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Prologue_

Captain's Log, Stardate 2261.74

'Travelling on impulse only, we're slowly approaching the fourth planet of an as yet unnamed solar system. Our scans have determined that this planet, roughly half the mass of Earth and with what seems to be one single ocean occupying just under a quarter of its surface, belongs to class M.'

Kirk paused the recording, taking a moment to observe the blue from the water below.

'The rest of the planet seems to be covered by a thick layer of vegetation making it appear brilliant green. For this reason, our Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura has suggested we christen it _Kijani_, the Swahili word for green. We will now continue our preliminary exploration to determine if it's safe for us to send out an away team. Kirk out.'

'Closing in exospheric orbit, Captain,' said Lieutenant Sulu.

'Thank you, Mr Sulu,' Kirk replied.

He got up from his chair and made his way around the bridge's central console to stand in front of the viewscreen. From there, he continued to observe the planet noticing how the vegetation appeared to be even more abundant from their current position. It looked incredibly peaceful.

'It's nice,' he heard Dr Marcus soft voice saying.

'It is,' Kirk agreed repressing the urge to grab her tiny hand in his.

For the umpteenth time since they had consummated their newborn relationship, barely a week ago, he wondered how Uhura and Spock managed to be a couple while literally sharing their workspace and also for the umpteenth time, he reminded himself that he wasn't Spock and didn't have anywhere near his level of control when it came to his emotions. It didn't help that, when it came to longer-than-a-night relationships, Jim Kirk was just like his beloved ship: travelling into uncharted territory.

'It'd be nice to go down there and explore it together,' Dr Marcus muttered, surprising him.

'I was thinking the same,' Kirk admitted.

'Really?' she asked him, with just a hint of disbelief.

'Of course,' Kirk said, 'it would be a great place for us to have our first official date.'

With immense satisfaction, he saw a very faint blush appearing on her cheeks and, just as he thought she would, she looked around herself as if she wanted to be sure no one had heard him. Kirk was about to reassure her that their secret was safe when he saw his best friend Dr Leonard McCoy entering the bridge.

'Are we there yet?' he asked skipping pointless pleasantries.

'We are,' Kirk replied offering him a smile, 'take a look. It looks nice, doesn't it?'

'If you say so,' Dr McCoy said obviously humouring him, 'at least is not one of those damned F Class planets you've been dragging us to. I swear Jim, sometimes I think you enjoy seeing me in trouble.'

'That's not true,' Kirk defended himself, 'besides, the last one wasn't that bad.'

'Wasn't _that bad_?' Dr McCoy sneered, 'we had two separate earthquakes, a freaky sandstorm and if it hadn't been for our biosuits, the poisonous atmosphere would have killed us instantly. Space is…'

'Okay, okay,' Kirk hurried to interrupt his best friend before he launched in yet another litany of how space was a disastrous concentration of disease and danger, 'where's Spock?'

'I'm a doctor Jim, not his babysitter,' Dr McCoy replied.

'Very funny,' Kirk retorted sarcastically, 'Uhura, have you seen Spock?'

'No, sir,' the Communications Officer said, 'he was supposed to start his shift five minutes ago.'

'That's weird,' Kirk commented as if he were talking to himself, 'he's never late.'

Returning to his seat, he pulled out his personal communicator, keying in the code for Spock's device. He waited for a reply but to his astonishment and increasing concern, his call was met with silence.

'Is he not picking up?' Dr McCoy asked sounding slightly sardonic.

'No, he's not,' Kirk replied seriously. He then pressed a button on the armrest of his chair and said, 'computer, locate Commander Spock.'

'Commander Spock is in his quarters,' the computer's artificial voice replied.

'Computer, connect me with Commander Spock's quarters,' Kirk ordered.

'Impossible to comply,' the computer announced, 'Commander Spock's intercom is offline.'

'Mr Sulu,' a definitely worried Kirk said, 'you have the conn.'

'Yes, sir,' Sulu replied.

'Mr Chekov,' Kirk then added, 'have a security detail meet me outside Mr Spock's quarters.'

'Aye, Captain,' the young ensign said, nervousness thickening his native Russian accent.

'Dr Marcus,' he said now sounding utterly professional, 'please continue scanning the planet's surface, try to find out if it's inhabited and if we can breathe on our own without the biosuits.'

'Yes, sir,' she said.

He had barely made it to the turbolift when he was joined by Uhura. The xenolinguist looked as anxious as the Captain did and, for once, Kirk decided to waive protocol and allow the officer board the turbolift with him without her asking for permission to leave the bridge. Too concerned to talk, the pair made their way to the deck below, the one which contained the rooms belonging to the bridge officers. Spock's was sandwiched between Kirk's and Dr McCoy's, not too far from Uhura's.

Six burly looking men were already waiting for him.

'The room's locked, sir,' one of them supplied, 'and Commander Spock is not answering.'

'Is he alone?' Kirk then asked.

'Yes, sir,' the man replied, 'we're waiting for your orders, Captain.'

Kirk acknowledged and made his way to the door. Listening in through the thick barrier, he could tell that his First Officer was moving around inside the room. At least, Kirk noted with relief, he appeared to be conscious. The Captain was about to press the intercom's button when, to his utmost shock, he heard a primal scream and then the sound of an object crashing against a wall.

'Spo…' Uhura started but Kirk stopped her. His quick brain had already made the connection.

God help them all, he thought. Unless he was very much mistaken, his First Officer had just entered an obscure Vulcan biological phase called _pon farr_.

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter One

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter One_

After letting the terrible reality sink in, Kirk quickly decided on the best course of action. Making sure his expression betrayed none of the panic he felt, he turned away from the door and, facing the security detail's leader, he said:

'You're dismissed.'

'Captain?' the man asked him looking obviously confused.

'Your services are no longer required,' Kirk patiently replied, 'return to your stations.'

'Yes, sir,' the man said and, with this, all six security officers squared themselves as a way of saluting him.

Then, they all left leaving Kirk alone with Uhura.

'Sir…' she started.

'Lieutenant,' he asked her instead, 'have you noticed anything strange about Spock recently?'

Good. His voice sounded as neutral as he wanted it to be.

'I'm not sure what you mean,' Uhura said.

'Has he been distant,' he elaborated, 'perhaps nervous or even looked jittery to you?'

'Captain, do you know what's wrong with him?' Uhura asked her deep brown eyes full of concern and fear.

'Please, just answer the question,' Kirk insisted.

This made Uhura frown. Kirk wasn't sure if she was deep in thought or perhaps she was getting angry at him. Either way, the fact that she didn't know what was wrong with Spock was quite significant: if he was right and Spock was entering_ pon farr_, his First Officer had definitely failed to tell his girlfriend about it.

'He's been a little cold towards me,' Uhura reluctantly confessed, 'but he gets like that sometimes.'

'Okay,' Kirk said in what he hoped was an understanding tone of voice, 'is there anything else you've noticed?'

'Not really,' she replied, 'sir, please, if you know what's wrong…'

'I don't,' he interrupted her, 'I need to talk to him first and then we'll take it from there.'

'I…'

'Please Uhura,' Kirk said, 'do me a favour and go back to the bridge.'

The Communications Officer stared at him for a moment as if she was debating with herself how to make her case but, ultimately, she obviously realised that he was her commanding officer and he had asked her please what he could have ordered her to do. This softened her expression a little and, nodding once, she muttered a barely audible 'okay' before turning round and head back to the turbolift.

For a fleeting moment and while he stood all alone in the middle of the corridor, Kirk wished he too could go back to the bridge for he knew that the conversation he was about to have with his First Officer would be at best, incredibly awkward; at worst, a complete and utter disaster.

'Alright,' he breathed out.

Bracing himself, he faced the door once again only that, this time, instead of buzzing the intercom, he decided to use his knuckles and do this the old fashioned way. Knocking twice on the smooth white surface covering the door, he proceeded to wait to see if Spock would open up. He did not. Five seconds later, he repeated the exercise and rapping the door twice again, he said:

'Spock, it's me, Jim. I'm on my own now.'

Silence met his words.

'Please Spock,' he insisted, 'open the door.'

He then heard some noise that got his hopes up but a handful of seconds later, the door remained shut.

'Spock,' Kirk said feeling like his patience was starting to run out, 'you do realise I have the master code, right? I could easily let myself in, but I would prefer it if you would open the door your…'

He didn't finish the sentence for, right at that moment, Spock finally decided to comply with his Captain's orders. Kirk had to repress a gasp when he saw that his usually neat First Officer appeared alarmingly dishevelled: his science blue tunic was all creased, his boots weren't properly fastened and even his perfectly groomed bangs were all messed up, at least for Vulcan standards. Kirk swallowed hard seeing all of that.

'Captain,' Spock said with an odd sounding voice.

'Can I come in?' Kirk forced himself to say.

'Captain…'

'Please,' Kirk tried again, 'we need to talk.'

'I would prefer not to be disturbed,' Spock said using his frame to block the entrance to his room.

'I can see that,' Kirk observed, 'but I still think we need to talk.'

'I…'

'Please,' Kirk repeated, 'I think I know what's wrong with you and I would like to help as much as I can.'

'All due respect,' Spock said coolly, 'I sincerely doubt you would be aware of…'

'It's the _pon farr_, isn't it?' Kirk said keeping a very low tone of voice.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Kirk would have enjoyed seeing the utter shock on Spock's usually stoic expression. But the situation _was_ dire and Kirk kept his own face as guarded and neutral as he possibly could. Spock's astonishment was quickly replaced by the deepest shame and, maybe a hint of annoyance.

'Come on in,' he almost barked at Kirk.

Not taking it personal, the Captain followed Spock inside his room and what he saw there only served to confirm that his suspicions had been accurate: the room, which usually was so clean it would have pleased the strictest of the hygiene inspectors, was a royal mess: furniture was toppled over, the bedding was carelessly thrown onto the floor leaving the mattress bare, and several objects had been smashed up.

'Can I sit down?' Kirk asked pointing at the only chair which remained upright.

Spock didn't answer. Instead, he went to stand in front of the small window the room came equipped with, giving his back to his CO. Kirk was about to sit down anyway when he heard his First Officer asking him:

'How do you know about _pon farr_?'

'I was warned that it would happen to you,' Kirk simply replied.

'By whom?' Spock demanded rather harshly.

'By you,' Kirk replied then, quickly added, 'by the other you.'

This made Spock finally turn round to face his Captain. His expression betrayed absolutely nothing.

'Why did he tell you?' he asked him.

Kirk took a moment to think about his answer. Then, taking a deep breath, he said:

'Spock had experienced it in his own timeline, he told me it had been one of the most distressing times of his life and, when he found out about our five year mission, he informed me that it would happen to you too. He was careful to leave some details out but he told me enough to know you would need our help.'

This time, it was Spock's turn to take a moment to digest this information.

'I see,' was all he said after a while.

'Please Spock,' Kirk started with his softest tone of voice, 'tell me what you need me to do.'

'I need to go to New Vulcan,' Spock finally said.

'Okay,' Kirk nodded, 'what else?'

'I do not know,' Spock replied sounding a little anguished, 'it is the first time I experience _pon farr_. I thought I would be spared from it since I am half human but I once again find myself confused by emotions I do not want to feel and that I cannot control. My entire body seems foreign to me and I feel…'

'…trapped,' Kirk finished for him.

Spock looked almost pleasantly surprised.

'Yes, I do feel trapped,' he admitted.

'I take Ambasssador Spock didn't tell you about any of this then,' Kirk said feeling a little frustrated at the older version of the man he had standing in front of him. Seeing Spock slowly shaking his head made him damn all Vulcans and their twisted logic. Pushing that thought aside, he carefully asked, 'what about Uhura? She doesn't know what's happening to you, does she?'

'No, she does not,' Spock confirmed.

'Okay,' Kirk said, 'I can't tell you what to do but, if I were her, I would probably want to know. From what I know,_ pon farr_ is something that affects bondmates as well, and she is your bondmate, isn't she?'

'No, she's not,' Spock replied.

Kirk felt his own eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

'But…'

'My bondmate's name was T'Pring,' Spock replied, 'she died during the destruction of our planet.'

'Oh,' Kirk somehow managed to articulate, 'I'm really sorry to hear that.'

'Our bond was severed a long time before that,' Spock continued almost as if he hadn't heard Kirk, 'but, right now, I am feeling it stronger than ever. It is as if her mind is still linked to mine. It is most unsettling.'

'I bet it is,' Kirk muttered.

'I wish to take sick leave,' Spock announced.

'Of course,' Kirk accepted.

'I am aware that I am being most unreasonable and…'

'Spock,' Kirk interrupted him gently, 'sometimes you are entitled to be unreasonable, now more than ever. Let me take care of this, okay?' he asked and then, without waiting for an answer, he walked to the room's intercom and, pressing the button he called out, 'Kirk to Bridge, Mr Sulu acknowledge.'

'Sulu here,' the helmsman replied.

'Set course to New Vulcan, warp factor 4, and ask Lieutenant Uhura to try and locate Ambassador Spock. If she finds him, she's to patch him through to Mr Spock's communicator.'

'Yes, Captain,' Sulu replied closing the call.

Kirk pressed the button once again and said:

'Kirk to Medical, Dr McCoy acknowledge.'

'Jim? Are you alright?'

'Bones,' he said smiling at his best friend overly concerned tone, 'please log in sick leave for Mr Spock.'

'What's wrong with him?' Dr McCoy asked.

'Make something up,' was Kirk's surprising reply.

'You can't be serious,' the doctor replied, 'look, I'm coming up…'

'No,' Kirk ordered all humour gone from his tone of voice, 'please Bones, it's complicated. Just trust me with this and do what I say.' For once, he mentally added.

'Jim, I can't simply make something up without examine him first,' Dr McCoy reasoned.

'Sure you can,' Kirk insisted, 'need I remind you of the times at the Academy when…'

'Alright, alright,' Dr McCoy said, 'but if I have to make something up, you know I can get very creative.'

'I know,' he replied, the smile returning to his face, 'just write something that can only be treated by Vulcans. Kirk out.'

With this sorted out, the Captain glanced up at Spock, finding his First Officer looking very grateful and significantly less stressed. Kirk wished he could do more than this but, he found himself so out of his depth that he didn't know what else to do. Inwardly, he prayed Uhura would find Ambassador Spock very soon.

'It's going to be alright,' he tried to reassure Spock, 'you'll see.'

His First Officer simply nodded.

'Now,' Kirk said looking around the room, 'shall we tidy this up a little? Unless you're trying to make your room look messier than mine.'

'I do not think that is possible,' Spock replied rather cheekily.

Kirk just let out a soft chuckle and then went to pick up one of the toppled chairs.

'Please Captain,' Spock stopped him, 'I will do this. You have done more than enough already.'

'Are you sure?' Kirk asked him.

'I am certain,' Spock confirmed, 'it will help ease my mind if keep my hands occupied. Also, the ship needs her Captain. It would be unwise to keep you from your duties to tend to my own personal needs.'

'You are right,' Kirk said, 'but just so you know, your _own personal needs_ are just as important to me.'

'I know,' Spock replied, 'and I am very grateful for that.'

'That's what friends are for, right?' Kirk asked offering him his best smile.

'I fully concur with that sentiment,' Spock agreed.

'Alright,' Kirk said, 'I'll leave you alone now. Please let me know if you manage to speak to Ambassador Spock and…well, just let me know if you need anything at all, okay?'

'I will,' Spock promised.

Nodding once, the Captain turned to leave the room when he was stopped by his First Officer's voice:

'Jim, regarding Lieutenant Uhura...'

'What about her?' Kirk said glancing over his shoulder.

'…I do not wish her to be informed about my…condition, just yet.'

'Are you sure?' he asked turning to look at him.

'Yes,' Spock replied, 'I…'

'Okay,' Kirk interrupted him, 'like I said, if I were her I would like to know but hey, it's your call.'

'My call?' Spock asked him looking slightly confused.

'Your choice,' Kirk explained, 'I mean it's your prerogative to decide who knows and who doesn't.'

'Thank you, Jim,' Spock said.

'You're welcome, Spock,' Kirk replied.

And with that, he finally walked out of his First Officer's quarters. Then, instead of returning to the bridge, he opted to make a quick stop by his own room so that he could sit down and think of a suitable excuse to justify this unexpected detour, to both his crew as well as Starfleet Command.

'Oh boy,' he muttered as the thought dawned on him, 'what the hell am I going to tell them?'

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter Two

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Two_

Sitting in front of the private viewer installed in his quarters, Kirk spent a few moments trying to concoct a story for the Starfleet Command that would justify the Enterprise's sudden detour to New Vulcan. He was thinking of different scenarios when, out of the blue, he remembered one of the last conversations he'd had with Christopher Pike, his mentor and de facto father.

_You lied, on an official report, you LIED!_

Swallowing hard, trying to exorcise the memory, he made his mind up.

'Kirk to Bridge, Lieutenant Uhura: acknowledge.'

'Uhura here.'

'Lieutenant, get me Starfleet Command and patch them through to my quarters,' he gently asked.

'Yes, sir,' she replied, 'please standby.'

A few instants went by, then his viewer activated itself, showing the rather stern face of Admiral Richard Barnett, the man who, after the whole Khan fiasco, had reluctantly replaced Admiral Marcus as the new head of Starfleet.

'Captain Kirk,' the Admiral said as a way of greeting.

'Admiral,' he replied, 'with your permission, I'd like to...'

'Be brief,' Barnett interrupted him, 'I'm expected at a meeting momentarily.'

'Understood,' Kirk said trying to appear unfazed, 'my First Officer, Commander Spock is suffering from a life threatening ailment which can only be treated in New Vulcan. I would like to request your permission to take him there.'

'You said _life threatening_?' the Admiral asked him, his face showing a bit of concern.

'Yes, sir,' Kirk replied, 'if we don't get him to New Vulcan within a week, he will die.'

'I see,' Barnett said.

'Please, sir…'

'You have my permission,' Admiral Barnett stopped him then, seeing Kirk's obvious surprise, he softened his tone and said, 'you didn't think I would be so cold-hearted to deny it, did you?'

'Well…'

'Kirk,' the older man said, 'contrary to what you might believe, not all your superior officers are out there to get you. I, for one, knew Pike wasn't wasting his time when he chose to mentor you.'

Hearing this rendered Kirk speechless.

'I must go now,' the Admiral continued, 'do take care of Commander Spock, he was one of our most distinguished academy graduates and he _is _the best First Officer in Starfleet.'

'I know,' Kirk managed to say feeling a burst of pride that he was able to call the Vulcan his friend.

The Admiral nodded once before closing the communication. On the viewer, his image was replaced by the standard screensaver with the United Federation of Planets crest, Kirk stared at it for a moment finding it hard to believe that, at least for once, telling the truth had made things a whole lot easier instead of the opposite.

A couple of minutes later, he walked out of his quarters finding himself right in front of Dr McCoy.

'Bones,' he called out, 'what are you doing here?'

'I wish I knew,' his best friend replied, 'he called me,' he then added pointing at Spock's room.

'Oh, I see…'

'What's going on, Jim?' Dr McCoy asked.

'I…'

The sound of Spock's door sliding open interrupted what he was going to say. The First Officer stepped out of his quarters looking significantly neater. His hands, however, were firmly grasped behind his back, hiding the fact that they were getting increasingly jitterier.

'Doctor,' the Vulcan said trying to steady his voice, 'please come on in.'

'Spock?' Kirk asked.

'Captain,' he replied, 'I've decided to inform the doctor about my…condition.'

'Are you sure?' Kirk asked him.

'Like you said,' the Vulcan continued, 'it is my prerogative to choose who needs to be made aware of this predicament, also, the doctor is bound by the physician-patient confidentiality agreement so he will not disclose any details. Furthermore, I do not wish for you to carry this burden by yourself.'

'It's not a burden,' Kirk reassured him.

'It should be,' Spock argued very seriously, 'even Vulcans find it exceedingly difficult to endure the knowledge of what effectively is our deepest shame.'

'I'm officially curious,' Dr McCoy said earning himself a glare from Kirk, 'what?'

The Captain just shook his head in disappointment while he followed a more or less impassive Spock back into his quarters noticing that they had been thoroughly tidied up, only a few broken artefacts remained of the chaos that had reigned earlier.

'Please, take a seat,' the Commander asked them.

Five minutes later, Kirk stepped out of the room to allow a less curious and a lot more concerned Dr McCoy to examine Spock. The Vulcan had insisted he didn't need it but, after hearing about _pon farr_ the doctor refused to take any chances and proceeded to order Spock to "have some common sense and let him do his damn job", needless to say, Kirk had been sensible enough to make himself scarce.

'How is he doing?' he asked McCoy when the doctor came out of the Vulcan's quarters.

'His adrenaline levels are off the charts,' he replied sounding very worried, 'his Vulcan physiology might be a lot more resilient than ours but even he won't be able to sustain this level of stress. I give him six days, at most.'

'Ambassador Spock told me we would have eight days,' Kirk protested.

'That's probably right,' McCoy replied, 'but if I know that green-blooded hobgoblin as much as I think I do, I'd say he's been hiding the symptoms for the past two to three days.'

'Dammit,' Kirk muttered.

'We've gotta hurry him to New Vulcan,' McCoy said pointing out the very obvious, 'otherwise he's as doomed as a turkey around Thanksgiving.'

'Thanks for that,' Kirk deadpanned, 'also, I thought I ordered you not to use any more metaphors.'

'Well, you know me,' Dr McCoy had the cheek to say.

'Yeah and sometimes I wish I didn't,' Kirk retorted.

The doctor refused to take offence and limited himself with giving his best friend his best scowl. He then walked away towards the turbolift so that he could return to Medical, leaving Kirk with no option but to follow him. After all, he still needed to go back to the bridge and speak to his crew.

Kirk was _not_ looking forward to telling them that their First Officer had to remain in isolation.

Two days later, Sulu informed Kirk that they had finally entered New Vulcan space. They had failed to get in touch with Ambassador Spock. Instead, about a day into their journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, Spock had informed Kirk that he'd received a call from his own father Sarek.

He had promised that the USS Enterprise would be escorted into orbit by a pair of Vulcan fighters that had somehow survived the destruction of the planet over two years prior and while they followed them, Kirk observed their streamlined shape through the viewscreen. He didn't know anywhere near as much about engineering as Scotty but even he could tell they were highly advanced machines designed to be as deadly as they were elegant.

'We've reached our assigned orbit,' Sulu informed him taking him out of his reverie.

'Thank you,' Kirk said.

'Sir,' he heard Scott's familiar burr coming from the open turbolift, 'did you ask to see me?'

'Yes,' Kirk replied getting up from his chair, 'I take everything is under control down in Engineering?'

'Of course it is!' Scotty replied looking a tad offended.

'Good,' Kirk said trying not to smile, 'in that case and since Commander Spock and I will be absent for a while, I will leave you in command of the Enterprise. Mr Sulu, you will be his First Officer.'

'Aye, Captain,' the helmsman promptly replied.

'Mr Scott?' Kirk asked, this time unable to repress a grin noticing the older man's stunned expression, 'is everything alright?'

'What?' was all Scotty managed.

'Mr Scott,' Kirk patiently explained, 'maybe you've forgotten but you are third in command aboard the Enterprise. In mine and Spock's absence, you're supposed to be her commanding officer.'

'Of course,' Scott replied squaring his shoulders in an attempt to look more dignified.

'Okay,' Kirk said, 'you have the conn, Mr Scott.'

'Aye, sir,' the man said, his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Kirk stepped onto the turbolift, its doors closing just in time for him to see Scotty reverently sitting on the Captain's chair, as if he was taking his sweet time to savour the moment he took command of his beloved ship. The Captain smiled once again understanding the feeling too well.

This smile lasted until the moment he reached the shuttlebay. There and just as agreed, he found a grim Uhura waiting for him. They barely had time to exchange a quick greeting when they saw Dr McCoy walking with a very frail looking Spock, Kirk's insides cringed seeing the green tint that covered his cheeks. He did indeed look like he was suffering from a life threatening illness.

'I've done all I can,' McCoy said.

'Thanks, Bones,' Kirk replied then, placing his hand gently on Spock's arm, he said, 'let's go.'

The First Officer didn't answer, in fact, he barely acknowledged the contact but he did follow the doctor into the shuttle they would use to travel to the surface of New Vulcan. Kirk wished they could use the transporter but, as McCoy had pointed out, the man was barely holding himself together and he didn't think it wise to put his body through any further strain. Kirk of course, agreed.

'Are you sure I should come?' Uhura asked for what probably was the umpteenth time.

'Yes,' Kirk insisted, 'I need someone to keep an eye on him while I take us down there.'

'Okay,' Uhura replied.

'He's going to be fine,' Kirk assured her, 'you'll see, we'll have him back in all his controlled glory.'

Uhura produced a small smile and said:

'Thanks.'

'Come on in,' Kirk said after a moment, 'we have to hurry.'

'Yes, sir,' she replied.

Flying shuttles wasn't among his top five hobbies but, after clocking a large number of hours in the simulator and a few very useful pointers from Sulu, Kirk had become a really proficient pilot. He was grateful of his skills when he saw that the so-called landing pad was on top of a rugged mount.

'Wow,' he gasped tightening his grasp on the shuttle's control column.

Fighting a nasty crosswind and with poor visibility courtesy of the dust lifted from the sandy ground, Kirk tried to keep the craft as steady as possible while he lowered the landing gear. A moment later, he felt the soft impact of the shuttle against the hard surface of the pad and a quick check on the console told him that, surprisingly, they had made it in one piece.

'How is it going?' he asked his two sole passengers.

'We're good,' Uhura replied from her seat at the back, 'that was a smooth landing, well done, sir.'

'Thanks,' he replied trying not to sound too smug.

Reminding himself the reason they were there, Kirk released the belt strapping him to the seat and, getting up, he went to help Uhura with Spock. With their combined efforts, they managed to get him off the shuttle just in time for Ambassador Sarek's arrival. The Vulcan dignitary arrived accompanied by another Vulcan male old enough to be into his hundreds and a much younger male who looked like he was some sort of assistant. They were all dressed in the impeccable Vulcan fashion.

'Captain Kirk,' Sarek greeted him.

'Ambassador,' Kirk replied, 'thank you for receiving us with such short notice.'

'Spock is my son,' Sarek replied, his even tone of voice void of the emotion the sentence should have carried, 'and you did save our lives. The Vulcan race would be all but extinct if it wasn't for you.'

Kirk, once again, did not know what to say.

'Father,' Spock said, speaking for the first time in hours.

'Come on, son,' Sarek said, 'the other Elders are waiting for us at the new Katrik Ark.'

Spock just nodded and when it looked like he was just going to follow his father, the First Officer turned to Kirk and said:

'I shall return as soon as I can.'

'I know,' Kirk replied giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

The two held their gaze for a moment longer during which Kirk did his best not to think of how upsetting it was to see such a high level of distress in his friend's face. It painfully reminded him of a certain event that he'd been trying to forget with all his might: his own death.

'Spock,' they heard Sarek say.

Nodding once, Spock broke their eye contact and proceeded to follow his father and the Elder thus leaving Kirk and Uhura alone in the landing pad with the younger Vulcan who, Kirk observed, looked so supremely disinterested it made Kirk wonder he'd even respond if he were to speak to him. Kirk was still trying to decide how to break the proverbial ice when he heard a very quiet sniffle coming from his Communications Officer.

'Uhu…'

'I know he's sick but, he acts like he doesn't even know me,' she said miserably.

'He's not himself,' he tried to reason with her.

'I know,' she said, 'it's just…'

She never finished saying whatever it was that she wanted to say for, right at that moment, Kirk's communicator chirped. Mumbling a quick apology, he flipped it open and answered the call:

'Kirk here.'

'Captain,' he heard Scott's alarmed voice, 'you better get up here.'

'Why?' Kirk asked, 'what's wrong?'

'It's the Klingon, sir,' the Acting Captain replied, 'a whole squadron of warbirds are coming our way.'

Kirk and Uhura looked at each other unable to believe their own ears.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter Three

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Three_

Klingons.

The word sent an uncomfortably cold shiver down Kirk's back, making him recall the first and only time he'd been in contact with one of the most violent races in the entire universe. He tried not to think that Khan's prompt intervention had been the only reason they had survived that experience.

'Scotty,' Kirk said speaking into his communicator, 'I take you've got those shields up.'

It wasn't a question but Scott replied nonetheless:

'Of course, all hands are ready for battle, sir.'

'Good,' Kirk said, 'give us a minute and stand by to beam us up, Mr Scott.'

'Aye, Captain.'

'Also,' he said as an afterthought, 'get in touch with the nearest Starfleet post, ask them to send whatever they've got to help us protect New Vulcan.'

'Yes, sir,' Mr Scott replied.

'Thanks,' he said, 'Kirk out.'

He glanced over to the Vulcan who looked like he had not moved an inch. In fact, the Captain was ready to bet a month's wages that the guy hadn't even blinked in the whole time he'd been there.

'Excuse me,' Kirk said talking to him, 'do you speak Standard?'

'I am fluent in several languages,' the Vulcan replied, his voice immaculately neutral.

'Alright, we have a squadron of Klingon warbirds coming our way,' Kirk said trying to convey the urgency of the situation, 'please inform your High Council and ask them to get ready. I have already requested Starfleet to send reinforcements and they will be here soon but you need to prepare whatever defence systems you've got.'

'Understood,' the Vulcan said with not even a teensy hint of panic.

'Do you really understand what's happening?' Kirk asked feeling a tad frustrated.

'Of course,' he replied using an imperturbable tone of voice, 'like I already mentioned, I am fluent in several languages, including the Federation Standard vernacular. I shall now proceed to rely the information you have just supplied.'

With this, he left walking with the calm and aplomb of a Tibetan monk.

'I swear,' Kirk whispered to Uhura, 'compared to that, Spock is made of sunshine.'

Uhura made a visible effort not to smile but her eyes brightened up a little.

'Uhura,' Kirk said, 'you could stay here.'

'No,' she replied, 'I think now I'll be of more use to you than I am to him.'

'Are you sure?' Kirk asked.

'I am,' she confirmed.

'Okay,' Kirk said, he flipped the communicator back open and said, 'beam us up, Scotty.'

'Stand by,' Scott replied.

The usual twirl of golden energy engulfed them both and soon their decomposed atoms were carried over space to be reassembled in the Enterprise's transporter room where a very anxious looking Dr McCoy was waiting for them, he didn't even wait for Kirk to step out from his pad.

'How's Spock?' he asked.

'No idea,' Kirk replied honestly as all three of them made their way to the bridge, 'but he's in the best possible hands. I trust you and your team are ready to deal with any potential injuries.'

'We are,' McCoy assured him sounding oddly professional, 'I just hope it won't be necessary.'

'So do I,' Kirk replied sombrely.

A moment later, the three of them arrived at destination where Chekov announced his presence:

'Captain on the bridge!'

'Sir,' Scotty said freeing up the Captain's chair, 'I've received news from Starfleet, they're sending the USS Bradbury and the USS Missouri, their ETA is approximately an hour.'

'Thank you, Mr Scott,' Kirk said sitting down.

'With your permission, I'd like to return to Engineering now,' Scotty requested.

'Granted,' Kirk said.

The Chief Engineer left the bridge almost immediately. Meanwhile Uhura took her seat next to Dr Marcus who was currently manning the primary Science Station, thus sitting on Spock's usual chair.

'Captain,' she said, 'should I arm the photon torpedoes?'

'Yes,' Kirk replied taking a moment to exchange a glance with his girlfriend trying to reassure her. He found however that she was looking quite calm and it made him feel a surge of affection for her, 'Carol,' he then said deliberately using her first name, 'as soon as they show up, try to get a scan on their weapons systems.'

'Yes, sir,' she said nodding once.

He didn't have time for anything else because, right at that moment, Sulu announced the Klingon had entered New Vulcan space and a moment after that, they saw them: ten Klingon Bird-of-Prey showed up on the Enterprise's viewscreen flying in a perfectly shaped V formation.

Nine of them were older D6-class cruisers but their leader was a much more advanced D7-class dreadnaught which looked just as menacing as its designers had intended it to be, Kirk forced himself to calm down so that the terror he was starting to feel would not take control of him.

'Keep all weapons on standby,' he ordered Dr Marcus, 'Mr Sulu, shield status.'

'All shields are at one hundred per cent, Captain,' the helmsman confirmed.

'I detect a flight of Vulcan Fighters incoming from mark 2,' Chekov reported.

'How many?' Kirk enquired.

'Twelve, sir,' the navigator replied.

'That's not enough,' Kirk commented, he turned to Uhura and said, 'I need to know what they're doing. Why aren't they attacking?'

'I have nothing, Captain,' she told him, 'it's like they're keeping radio silence.'

'Wonderful,' he couldn't help but to say.

Just as the Vulcan fighters appeared within their vision range, the D6 warbird on the leftmost tip of the V turned its firing turret and, before any of them could do anything to prevent it, it shot several photon torpedoes, destroying four of the Vulcan crafts and damaging at least two more, causing the rest to flee .

'NO!' Kirk heard himself shouting.

'We're being hailed!' a distressed Uhura announced.

'On screen!' Kirk exclaimed.

An instant later, the terribly scarred face of a Klingon warrior appeared in front of them. Not that it was easy to tell but, judging by his tired expression, the Klingon had to be fairly old. He was dressed in what Kirk assumed was a Klingon dress uniform, including a heavy looking metallic band which was laid across the warrior's chest. This had a couple of plates of metal, each carrying something which resembled a crest. The warrior looked at Kirk for a moment, his eyes full of undiluted hatred.

'Captain Kirk,' he drawled.

'To whom am I speaking?' Kirk managed to ask, feeling very proud of his commanding tone of voice.

'I am Captain Kalan of the IKS Terror, father of Kre'in,' the Klingon replied.

Kirk turned briefly to Uhura to check if the Universal Translator was working properly. She nodded once and that made him turn his attention to the warrior.

'That name means nothing to me,' Kirk said and before the Klingon could speak, he hardened his tone of voice and said, 'you have invaded the Federation territory and you have fired and destroyed Vulcan crafts in violation with any existing rules of engagement…'

He stopped speaking when he realised the Klingon was laughing at him.

'You've committed an act of war!' Kirk exclaimed.

'Good,' Captain Kalan said with such viciousness that it sent a ripple of shock throughout the bridge.

'Is that why you're here?' Kirk asked.

'No,' the Klingon replied, 'I'm here because of you. Provoking a war would just be an added bonus.'

This time, even Kirk was left speechless.

'I find your indifference towards my son's name deeply offensive,' the warrior told him. Taking a moment to observe him, Kirk noticed that beneath the hatred, one could see just a hint of sorrow. This told him that whoever Kre'in had been, he was probably dead, 'he was my heir,' Kalan explained, 'and he was brutally murdered along his brothers-in-arms by one of you filthy humans.'

Kirk simply had no idea of what was going on anymore.

'A year ago,' Kalan was grateful enough to elaborate, 'my son was leading his squadron for a routine patrol on the Ketha province. He never came back.'

'You've gotta be kidding me,' Kirk muttered under his breath. Now all it made sense.

'I spent months searching for clues that would lead me to him,' the warrior continued, 'finally, I found the piece I needed,' he said producing a scrap of metal, 'this pointed me in the right direction and, at great cost, one of our agents found that your ship had been around during the attack.'

'Captain Kalan…'

'You will come now aboard my ship,' the Klingon continued, 'and I will personally interrogate you.'

'No,' Kirk said.

'If you fail to comply,' he grunted, 'I will obliterate your ship and that puny colony down below.'

'If you do that you will have to face the full retaliation from the Federation,' Kirk said.

'Am I supposed to be afraid by your so-called Federation?' Kalan asked him, without letting him answer, he added, 'the Klingon Empire and its allies are eager for the chance to erase you from existence. I will be welcomed as a hero by the Chancellor himself!'

It was quickly becoming clear to them that they were dealing with someone who, not only was borderline deranged but who probably wasn't bluffing when he said he would destroy the Enterprise as well as New Vulcan. For this reason, Kirk decided the only thing to do was to buy enough time for the Bradbury and the Missouri to show up and level the terms of the engagement.

'I will submit to your interrogation,' Kirk finally announced provoking a gasp from several of his bridge officers, the loudest came from the Science Station at his back. Making an effort to ignore Carol's shock, he carried on, 'however, you will give me your honour-bound word that none of your ships will attack mine, nor the New Vulcan colony.'

'That sounds reasonable,' the Klingon surprisingly said.

'I want your word,' Kirk demanded, 'none of your Birds-of-Prey will strike or in any other way harm the USS Enterprise, her crew or the entire population from the New Vulcan colony.'

'I give you my honour-bound word that we will not attack your ship or the colony,' the warrior said.

Kirk turned quickly to Uhura posing a silent question with his eyes: can we trust him?

Uhura nodded and allowed herself to speak:

'Klingon traditions are clear: he's given you his word and if he breaks it, he will lose his honour.'

Kirk went back to staring at Captain Kalan and, trying not to think about what he was doing, he said:

'Alright, you will need to allow me some time to prepare.'

'You have ten minutes,' the Klingon replied, 'if you fail to comply, our agreement will become void.'

'Understood,' Kirk said.

With this, the communication was terminated leaving Kirk with a whole list of things to do before he would be forced to beam himself to the IKS Terror. What an appropriate name, he thought miserably.

'Jim,' he heard Dr McCoy say, 'you can't possibly think of…'

'Not now,' he stopped him, 'Kirk to Engineering, Mr Scott come back to the bridge immediately.'

'Aye, Captain,' he heard the Scotsman say.

Doing his best to ignore every pair of eyes that were boring into him, Kirk opened up his captain log and hurried to make a written supplementary entry. Once this was done, he got up from the chair.

'Jim,' this time it was Carol's soft voice.

'Give me a minute,' he almost begged her, 'Mr Sulu, what's the current ETA for the reinforcements?'

'About forty minutes, sir,' the helmsman replied.

'Okay,' he said. Just then, he saw Scotty exiting the turbolift and before he could ask for permission to come onto the bridge, Kirk told him, 'Mr Scott, I'm once again leaving you in command. Whatever happens out there, your number one priority is to protect New Vulcan. They've already lost their planet, don't let them lose anything else.'

'Yes, sir,' Scott replied solemnly.

'Bones,' he finally said, 'go and get your medical kit and meet me at the transporter room.'

'Okay,' the doctor replied, for once, he was wise enough not to argue and complied with the order.

'I will come back as soon as I can,' he tried reassuring everyone, 'till then, I trust you all know what's expected of you, just do your jobs and everything will be fine. Mr Scott, you've got the conn.'

'Aye, Captain,' he said.

With that and just sparing a moment to exchange a quick glance with a very worried looking Carol, he stepped onto the turbolift. Just as it was beginning to shut, he saw her jumping up from her seat and rushing to join him in it, surprising everyone, probably including herself.

'Sorry,' she wheezed as soon as they started moving down, 'I just…'

'Carol…' he started to say but was interrupted when she just hugged him so tight he thought he would suffocate. Forgetting about that, he returned the embrace and, for a couple of seconds, neither spoke, then, he pushed her away gently and said, 'listen, there's something I need to…'

'Shush,' she begged him, 'don't say anything now, save it for when you come back.'

'Carol, I…'

Rising herself on her tiptoes, she silenced him once again by pressing her lips against his.

'Please come back,' she desperately whispered against them, 'promise me,' she added.

'I promise,' he said meaning it.

The turbolift stopped and, as the doors opened, he stepped out of it while she remained inside.

'I'll see you soon,' he told her.

'Yes,' she replied.

While Carol returned to the bridge, Kirk walked purposely to the transporter room. There, as agreed, he found his best friend armed with a huge hypo-spray and the mother of all disapproving scowls.

'Just so you know,' he said, 'I sure hope you have a fool-proof plan because handing yourself to the Klingons is like showing a quarter-pounder to a bunch of hungry dogs.'

'Again with the metaphors,' Kirk said trying to smile, 'I take that's for me?'

'It sure isn't for me,' Dr McCoy sneered, 'when you asked me to bring my kit I assumed you'd want something for the pain those bastards are going to cause you.'

'And that's why I like you so much,' Kirk said.

'You won't like me so much now,' the doctor replied and, without giving him time to prepare himself, he jabbed him with the hypo-spray right on the most tender spot on his neck.

'OUCH!' Kirk complained.

'Make sure you come back,' Dr McCoy said obviously ignoring him.

This time, Kirk only nodded. He then stepped onto the pad and an instant later, he was gone.

On the Enterprise's bridge, they all saw the IKS Terror going into warp. Taking Captain Kirk with it.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter Four

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Four_

In the time it took Dr McCoy to make it back to the bridge a full scale argument had already started, all trying to make their case around an overwhelmed Scotty who looked like he'd give anything to trade the Captain's chair for his station down in Engineering.

'What are we waiting for?' Dr Marcus demanded of him, 'we need to go now!'

'She's right,' Sulu agreed facing the Acting Captain from his own seat, 'the longer we sit here, the more likely they will…' he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence for saying it out loud was just too frightening, '…we owe him our lives, we cannot let anything happen to him!'

'We're all worried,' Uhura tried to reason with him, 'but we cannot leave New Vulcan at the mercy of those warbirds,' she added pointing at the Klingon ships still visible through the viewscreen.

'What's going on in here?' Dr McCoy finally found a window to intervene.

'The IKS Terror just took off,' Scotty was kind enough to explain, 'taking the Captain with them.'

The doctor lost his ability to think, let alone speak.

'Dr McCoy, tell them we've got to go NOW!' Carol repeated sounding like she was about to lose it.

'We can't do that,' Scott said sounding miserable, 'I'm very sorry, Dr Marcus but, we just can't.'

'Why not?!' she protested, 'Dr McCoy, please say something!'

'Dammit Jim,' Dr McCoy muttered looking like he was torn between going after the man he'd come to consider a brother and protecting over ten thousand members of an endangered species. Ultimately, he looked at Scotty and forced himself to say, 'we can't leave New Vulcan.'

'HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND!' Carol shouted at him.

'I know that,' the doctor replied drily, 'but we have a duty to protect the Vulcan people. Jim would never forgive us if we let anything happen to them. Also, don't forget that Spock is still down there.'

'I'm not forgetting that,' Carol argued, 'it's just…'

'I know,' Dr McCoy said softening his tone, 'believe me, I hate this even more than you do.'

'What are we going to do then?' Sulu asked, 'just let the Klingon get away with this?'

'No one said that,' Scotty replied, 'but we have our orders. The Captain was very clear: New Vulcan is our number one priority. At least until the Bradbury and the Missouri get here.'

'And when is that?' Dr McCoy asked.

'They should arrive in about half an hour,' Uhura informed him.

A heavy silence fell on the Enterprise's bridge while they all gathered their very troubled thoughts. Half an hour wasn't such a long time, but it was more than enough for the Klingons to kill Kirk.

'That's weird,' Chekov said all of a sudden.

'What is?' Scotty asked him.

'Those ships,' he explained pointing at his console, 'they're not moving.'

'What do you mean?' Sulu asked then.

'They haven't moved,' the Russian Ensign replied.

'At all?' McCoy asked.

'Not even a little, sir,' he confirmed looking pleased with himself, 'I have kept an eye on them since they arrived and, they have kept the same exact position, as though as they were frozen in place.'

Scotty let out a soft chuckle and, smiling proudly at Chekov, he exclaimed:

'Well done, laddie!'

'Good thing someone is on the ball in here,' Dr McCoy added gruffly.

'Yeah,' Sulu said sounding a little embarrassed, 'you're the youngest among us all, yet you're the only one who's kept a cool head and continued to do his job.'

Chekov turned a delicate shade of pink and became exceedingly interested in the tips of his boots.

'Let's test his theory,' Scotty proposed sitting back down on the Captain's chair, 'Mr Sulu, engage thrusters and see what they do if we get a wee bit closer to them.'

'Yes, sir,' the helmsman replied.

With this, everyone returned to their stations, excepting Dr McCoy who remained standing up at his usual place by the Captain's chair. From that position, he had a clear view of the moment when Sulu moved the Enterprise away from New Vulcan and towards the nine D6-class Klingon warbirds.

'I'll be damned,' he muttered just loudly enough for Scott to hear him.

The Acting Captain was too busy carefully watching the enemy warships following the Enterprise's trajectory to reply. He gestured to Sulu asking him to continue the manoeuvre and, just as the ship moved to the left, the nine warbirds mimicked the move while remaining in formation.

'That is weird,' Dr Marcus said.

'It looks like they've been ordered to follow us,' Uhura noted.

'I don't think that's quite right,' Sulu countered, 'it's more like…'

'…like they've been ordered to not let us go anywhere,' Scott finished for him sounding grim.

'Ordered is not the right word, sir,' Chekov said and before they could ask him, he elaborated, 'I don't think there's anyone on board. I think they're linked together and someone is remotely controlling them all.'

'How?' Dr McCoy asked, his frown becoming more pronounced than ever.

'I don't know, sorry,' the kid said shrugging his shoulders.

'Well, if that's the case,' Dr Marcus intervened, 'where are they controlling them from?'

'I'd bet my ass they're doing it from the IKS Terror,' Scott replied.

'Great,' McCoy sarcastically said. He was going to say something else when his communicator interrupted him. Scowling at it, he flipped it open and answered with his usual blunt, 'McCoy.'

'Doctor,' hearing Spock's voice surprised everyone on the bridge, 'I cannot reach the Captain.'

'Oh boy,' McCoy breathed.

'I have just been informed of the presence of several Klingon Birds-of-Prey,' the Commander continued, 'I have attempted to establish communication with the Captain but his communicator appears to be offline. Please ask him if he can contact me, I wish to speak to him.'

'Spock…er….' McCoy hesitated not really wanting to be the one giving him the news, 'we have a bit of a situation in here and…'

'I understand,' Spock interrupted him, 'it will only take but a moment of his time.'

'Spock,' the doctor finally said, 'Jim's not on the Enterprise right now.'

'Where is he?' Spock asked, his controlled voice starting to failing him.

'He's…' McCoy hesitated, 'he's been…he beamed aboard one of the Klingon warbirds, their leader wanted to…negotiate a ceasefire.'

Of course, Spock was far too smart to be fooled by his pretty poor white lie.

'In that case, it is only appropriate that I return to the Enterprise,' the Commander announced.

'What?' McCoy said, 'what about your health? Spock you can't…'

The doctor realised a split second too late that the Vulcan had already closed the call and he was no longer listening to him. Pushing the communicator back into his front pocket, it occurred to McCoy that Spock had not asked to be beamed up back to the ship. Perhaps he still had a chance to stop him.

'The shuttle!' Uhura exclaimed as if she'd suddenly remembered, 'Captain Kirk and I left our shuttle at the landing pad.'

So much for that, McCoy thought feeling miserable and very worried all at once.

'I'll go to the shuttlebay and try to make him see reason,' he said speaking to no one in particular.

'Good luck with that,' Scotty dared to say.

'Thanks,' McCoy replied sardonically.

'Do you want me to come with you?' Uhura ventured.

'No,' the doctor replied, 'I think I'll manage…somehow.'

'Alright,' Uhura said.

Stepping on the turbolift, Dr McCoy made a quick pit-stop by Medbay where he retrieved his trusty kit and then rushed to the ship's main shuttlebay. Ten minutes later, he saw the small aircraft entering the ship and, after a smooth landing, it came to a stop about fifty meters away from him.

The doctor ran to the shuttle's gate getting there just in time for the moment when it opened, revealing a determined and much healthier looking Spock. McCoy noticed that the Commander was no longer wearing his standard uniform, favouring instead a very simple but heavy looking white robe.

'Doctor…'

'Stop right there,' McCoy said.

'We do not have time to waste,' Spock countered.

'I know,' the doctor said, 'but I cannot allow you to come on board without a proper check up.'

'Is this one of those human pranks?' Spock enquired definitely not sounding amused.

'No, it's not,' McCoy said, 'just a couple of hours ago you looked like crap and now you…'

'I am better,' Spock interrupted him.

'The hell you are!' McCoy exclaimed, 'you…'

'We cannot lose him again,' Spock quietly said, '_I_ cannot lose him, not after what I have learned.'

'What the heck are you talking about?' the doctor asked feeling as utterly puzzled and frustrated as he always did when talking to the Vulcan.

'It is a private matter,' Spock replied, 'but we have no time to discuss that, I must go and retrieve the Captain immediately. I am frankly surprised that you of all people would let him take such a high risk, doctor.'

'You think I didn't try to stop him? Of course I did but when does he ever listen to me?' he rhetorically asked, 'but you know, I can stop _you,' _he announced and before Spock could protest, he said, 'you still are on sick leave and as this ship's Chief Medical Officer it is my prerogative to decide whether you are fit for duty or not.'

'Doctor…'

'I'm not kidding,' he interrupted him and, pointing towards the turbolift, he sternly added, 'you are now coming with me to Medbay where I will examine you and, only if I think you're as peachy as you claim to be, I will then think of letting you go anywhere near the bridge, is that understood?'

'Doctor…'

'Is that understood or not?' McCoy insisted.

'Affirmative,' was Spock's curt reply.

'Good Lord,' the frustrated doctor said, 'you're even more stubborn than Jim and that _is_ saying something!'

For a brief moment, Dr McCoy thought he saw a pleased look on Spock's face, as if the Vulcan had taken his comment as some sort of compliment. Whatever it was, it was gone an instant later when Spock started making his way to the turbolift forcing the doctor to rush after him.

'Unbelievable,' McCoy muttered under his breath.

Several light years away, Kirk was being manhandled in what he thought probably was just about as kindly as the Klingon could manage while he was taken along a poorly lit corridor that, like the rest of the ship, smelled of rotten eggs. The four Klingon warriors that surrounded him were too large for him to see much but, he still managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of a room adjacent to the bridge. There, he saw a massive console with nine blinking lights.

The console was manned by three other Klingon warriors, one of them looked like what Kirk thought would be a Klingon science officer: his attire had an almost civilian flair and he seemed slightly less murderous than the rest of his peers. Kirk wanted to see more but he received violent push forward.

'I'm walking!' he protested.

The warriors, of course, ignored him.

Finally they stopped in front of an entrance. The door was of the same dirty green that covered the rest of the ship and, as it opened, it revealed a bridge about half the size of that on the Enterprise. In the middle of it, sitting in some sort of throne-like chair, he saw the Klingon warrior he'd been speaking to: Captain Kalan.

'Welcome aboard,' the Klingon said sounding everything but cordial.

'Let's not pretend this isn't what it really is,' Kirk dared to say.

'You have spirit,' the Klingon said looking almost pleased, 'but we'll see to it momentarily.'

'Where is my ship?' Kirk asked glancing at the all-too-narrow viewscreen, 'I cannot see it.'

'Of course you can't,' Kalan replied, 'we are no longer in New Vulcan space.'

'What?' Kirk asked feeling dismayed, 'those weren't our terms! I demand to return to…'

Something hit him on the middle of his back, making him collapse face first right in front of Kalan. He only saved his dignity by stopping the fall with his hands but he still was left on his knees in front of the Klingon leader.

'You will be quiet,' Kalan sneered, 'and will speak only when spoken to, understood?'

'You b…'

Another well placed hit on his back silenced him yet again. He turned round to glare at the Klingon who had delivered the blow, and saw that to his utmost shock, it was a female warrior. Or at least, he thought she was for Kirk had never seen anyone less attractive and looking less feminine than that.

'Meet Mu'Kren,' Kalan said, 'she's Kre'in's widow as well as our best interrogator.'

Kirk swallowed hard but trained his features to not reveal just how very scared he truly was.

'She enjoys causing pain,' Kalan continued, 'please do not make it too easy for her.'

'I'm not planning to,' he said with bravado.

Very soon he felt grateful for the neutraliser he had been administered before leaving the Enterprise because Mu'Kren pushed him down and tied him on what looked like a portable torture table and, even before Kalan started asking questions, Kirk felt a nasty burning sensation on his back.

He hadn't had the time to register what they were doing to him when the female warrior started applying an electrified spike on several spots of his arms and chest, repeating the operation several times until not even the neutraliser could stop him from feeling such an intense pain that, without his permission, he felt a terrible scream leaving his lips.

Mu'Kren smiled revealing a row of yellow-ish teeth.

'Come on, Kirk,' Kalan taunted him, 'we're only getting started.'

'I won't tell you anything,' Kirk said breathing heavily.

'Yes you will,' Kalan said, he made a gesture and Mu'Kren exchanged the spike with another utensil. This time, it was a short metallic bar which she used to hit his shins. Kirk thought that wasn't so bad until he felt the nerves on his legs send a massive and painful shock wave all the way through his spine and into his brain.

'Captain James T Kirk,' he whimpered, 'Serial Number…'

'NO!' Kalan shouted rising from his chair, 'tell me the name of the man who killed my son!'

'Captain James T…'

Mu'Kren hit him again, and again and again but Kirk still refused to talk. His torturer seemed to lose her limited patience and delivered one final blow across his chest that made Kirk's body give up and darkness claimed him provoking an ugly scowl on the female warrior's even uglier face. She glanced up her commanding officer and, in Klingon, she conveyed how very displeased she was about this weak human he had brought to her, asking him if she could just kill him instead.

'No,' Captain Kalan said, 'if he won't talk, we can still use him to get his Federation to supply us with the information we need.'

Obviously disappointed, Mu'Kren just punched an unconscious Kirk before storming off the bridge.

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter Five

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Five_

Curled up in a foetal position, Kirk lied on a floor so full of grim that, in comparison, even the very worst dives in Iowa would look sanitary. But that wasn't the first thing the Captain noticed when he opened his eyes after an indeterminate amount of time, finding himself engulfed in a red-tinted light.

The first thing that got his attention was a horrible gooey sensation coming from somewhere on his back; most of his body was throbbing in different levels of intensity but the pain he felt there was something else. Some strange self-preservation instinct told him to stop thinking about it so, instead of speculating whatever Mu'Kren's torture device had done to him, he decided to start by figuring out if he could move at all.

He first tried to see if he could extend his legs. They were sore all over but he could tell nothing was actually broken in them. Making a titanic effort, he managed to get on his knees wincing when he felt a piercing pain coming from his side. Okay so, at least one or several ribs _were_ broken.

With one final push up, he got on his feet feeling quite proud that he only swayed a little and that he could actually stand up on his own without needing to lean on the disgusting looking walls. He averted his eyes from them because he just knew the stains he saw on them were probably blood.

He had to get out of there.

Willing himself to be brave, he looked up and saw that the low ceiling was not going to help and a quick scan around his cell told him the only opening was the door that led into the room. Kirk started thinking of ways to shortcut the door's mechanism when he heard a set of heavy footsteps coming his way.

Without thinking twice, he lowered himself on the floor, curling up and closing his eyes once again.

He then proceeded to pretend he was still unconscious.

As he hoped, a Klingon warrior opened up the door to complete what probably was just a routine prisoner check. Kirk heard him make a sound that he assumed was the Klingon equivalent of a snort, as if the Klingon found it hard to believe humans were so weak they would take so long to recover from what he probably thought was just a light beating.

Kirk held his breath when he heard him stepping further into the room and tried to repress a pained moan when he felt the hard tip of a Klingon boot nudging him, perhaps trying to see if he would wake up. Seeing that the prisoner's eyes remained firmly shut seemed to trouble the Klingon for Kirk heard him crouching next to him and, without previous warning, he felt two fingers pressing his carotid artery.

With the Klingon busy checking his vital signs, Kirk felt brave enough to squint one of his eyes, the one that was not bruised, and from there, he saw something that made his heart beat faster: hanging from a massive belt, the Klingon warrior carried a huge knife. This was his chance.

In one single, swift move, Kirk launched himself towards the weapon, snatched it and used it to stab the Klingon right on his gut. Then, before the warrior could even think of screaming, Kirk sliced his throat, getting out of the way as the Klingon fell onto the ground making an alarmingly loud noise.

'I'm sorry,' Kirk muttered feeling genuinely guilty.

Cleaning the knife against his own trousers, the Captain hurried to the open door and, taking a quick peek out of it, he saw that the corridor was thankfully empty. Not only but, not far from his cell , at what he assumed had been the station of the Klingon he'd just killed, he saw what looked like a slab of metal protruding from the wall and, on top of that, he spotted his phaser and communicator.

Unable to believe his luck, Kirk rushed there and, after pocketing the communicator, he exchanged the knife for the much more useful phaser, wasting only a moment to set it to stun. Kirk didn't think it would earn him any points with the Federation if he went around on a Klingon killing spree.

He'd just completed this thought when he heard more incoming footsteps.

Not needing any further encouragement, Kirk moved down the passage, running away from the sound until he found that he'd run out of corridor. Swearing under his breath, he started frantically looking for anywhere he could hide, finding a narrow indentation at the bottom of the wall at his left.

Rushing there, attempting to make himself as small as possible, he tried to hide from sight and just as he thought he would not fit, he felt the wall behind him giving way to his own weight. Before he could do anything to stop it, he felt himself falling through a hole and into some sort of tube that went on forever.

With a painful thud, he finally hit the bottom of wherever it was he had landed.

He found that a sprained ankle had been added to his very long list of injuries and, for a moment, he just sat there, trying to figure out where he was. Pulling the communicator from his pocket, he used its mini-torch to check his surroundings but soon he wished he hadn't.

'Oh gosh…'

He felt like he was about to puke.

Rushing to get up, once again ignoring everything that ached in him, he tried to find a spot that would not be filled with bones and semi decomposed corpses. Only then he noticed the putrid stench that filled the entire room. He really needed to get out of there or he would likely pass out and just rot in there.

Using the communicator to check the walls for an exit, he saw that there was one just ahead. Running there as fast as he could, he saw that there was a control panel just to his right. He chose to keep believing in his lucky star and, pressing the biggest button on it, he was almost gleeful to see the door sliding open, revealing yet another empty and dark corridor that seemed to lead nowhere.

After limping for a while and his breath getting heavier because of the tremendous effort he was making just by standing up, Kirk decided to try to find somewhere more or less safe to hide so that he could rest a bit and, while he was at it, think of a way for him to get out of the ship.

Meanwhile, on a very different vessel, at his medbay, Dr McCoy found it hard to believe that the readings of his trusty tricorder declared Spock as healthy as an apple. Of the Vulcan variety, of course.

'How is this possible?' he asked him with a clearly accusing tone.

'As I have already explained,' the Commander replied sounding vaguely patronising, 'it is a private matter. I am well and I would very much prefer not to waste any more time so, I must request once again that you clear me for duty.'

'What about the…you know, the _pon farr_?' McCoy insisted.

'Doctor,' Spock said sternly, 'I do not wish to repeat myself. If you cannot find any flaws with my health, I will conclude that I am fit for duty and will report to the bridge so that I can provide our Captain with the assistance he surely needs.'

With this and without waiting for Dr McCoy's feedback, the Vulcan got up from the biobed and, taking the Vulcan robe from a nearby chair, he proceeded to dress himself and walk out of the room.

'Dammit,' the doctor muttered rushing after him.

He made it to the turbolift in time for the doors to slid close and when the two of them arrived on the bridge, Spock's presence caused quite a commotion. Uhura rushed to him and looked ready to start firing a million questions when the Vulcan silenced her with a slight gesture of his hand.

He walked to Scott who, out of instinct and probably respect, proceeded to vacate the Captain's chair. Spock ignored that and, instead, he glanced around the bridge before focusing back on the Chief Engineer asking him to provide him with a report of everything that had transpired in his absence.

'Be as brief as you can,' he ordered.

A slightly taken aback Scotty proceeded to give him a quick summary including the terms that their Captain had negotiated with the Klingons, culminating with Chekov's discovery about the D6 drones.

'Where are the USS Bradbury and the USS Missouri?' Spock asked him.

'They should be here any minute now, sir,' Scotty replied.

'Hail them,' Spock ordered Uhura who nearly jumped out of her skin before regaining her usual poise, 'they're warping into a trap,' he explained to a confused looking Scotty then, realising that no one was understanding his meaning, he elaborated, 'the Captain secured our own safety along with that of the New Vulcan colony. If like you say those ships are being remotely controlled, they will attack any vessel other than the Enterprise. In other words…'

'…they're screwed,' Dr McCoy finished for him.

'Curious expression, doctor,' Spock said, 'but it does convey the message I am trying to illustrate.'

'I have Captain LeFevre, ' Uhura announced.

'On screen,' Spock ordered finally taking a seat on the Captain's chair. This gesture, Scott noticed, put the Vulcan back in command of the Enterprise, relieving the Scotsman in more than one way.

'Stand by,' Uhura said.

A moment later, they saw the sharp face of the Commanding Officer of the USS Bradbury. The man, a lot older than most of the other Captains, had been appointed as temporary relief for Captain Frank Abbot, who had deceased along Admiral Pike and a few other during the John Harrison attack.

'Commander Spock,' the man said with a smarmy sounding voice, 'weren't you on sick leave?'

'Captain LeFevre,' Spock replied ignoring the question, 'I am aware that you are warping to our current location due to our request for reinforcements, however we have uncovered new elements that have led us to believe your ships are in imminent danger. I would therefore respectfully request you to drop out of warp right where you are.'

'You must be kidding me,' the Captain said.

'I am Vulcan,' Spock replied very seriously, 'we do not engage in any sort of pranks.'

'We're almost there,' LeFevre said.

'Precisely,' Spock countered, 'please order your helmsman to stop your ship before it is too late.'

'Sorry Commander,' the Captain said, 'but our orders came directly from Admiral Barnett.'

'Captain, I must insist,' Spock replied, 'you need to…'

'A few Klingon warbirds don't scare us, son,' LeFevre said with a sneer.

With this, the old man closed the communication leaving Spock feeling as frustrated as a Vulcan could ever be. He turned round to ask Uhura to hail the USS Missouri only to find she already had.

'Stand by,' she said sounding a tad dry.

'Captain Shang,' Spock started.

'We've just heard from the USS Bradbury,' the Chinese man said, 'and our answer is the same. '

He too terminated the transmission.

'What is wrong with these people?' Dr McCoy asked to no one in particular.

'What do we do now?' Sulu asked Spock.

'Mr Scott,' the Vulcan said, 'return to Engineering; Dr McCoy, you too should return to Medical.'

'Yes, sir,' Scotty replied.

McCoy simply nodded once and an instant later, both men stepped out of the bridge.

'Sound the red alert,' Spock ordered Chekov, 'we must prepare ourselves for battle.'

With those simple words, the tension on the bridge increased tenfold and soon, all hands were busy trying to get ready for what would probably be yet another life-threatening trial on board the Enterprise.

A moment later, the USS Bradbury dropped out of warp, followed by the USS Missouri and, just as Spock had predicted, the nine warbirds moved towards the two new targets, firing upon them even before they had reached a complete stop. Very soon, the USS Bradbury's shields started to fail.

'We've got to help them!' Sulu exclaimed.

'No,' Spock replied, 'if we intervene they might see it as a violation of the terms Captain Kirk negotiated with them, therefore providing them with a reason to destroy us and New Vulcan. We must stay right where we are.'

'Surely there's something we _can_ do,' Dr Marcus said from her seat.

'Yes,' Spock replied, 'we…'

'Oh my God!' they heard Uhura exclaim all of a sudden. The Communication's Officer looked like she was about to burst into tears, 'sorry, sorry,' she then added lowering her voice to a much quieter level.

'What's wrong?' Carol asked her.

'It's the Captain,' she replied both smiling and crying at the same time, '_our_ Captain!'

'Put him on speaker,' Spock ordered, his eyes widening in anticipation.

'Yes, sir,' Uhura replied pressing a button on her console.

'Jim,' Spock said looking genuinely pleased, 'it is very good to hear from you.'

'Spock,' they heard Kirk's voice say and, even though his tone was just above a whisper, his surprise was still obviously heard, 'what the hell are you doing on the Enterprise?'

'Captain…'

'Nevermind that,' Kirk said as if he was too much in a hurry to inquire about his First Officer's miraculous recovery, 'listen, I think I've figured out a way out of this mess but I'm going to need a bit of help. Do you remember how I beat the Kobayashi Maru?'

'Vividly,' Spock replied, a smile threatening to curve the tips of his lips.

'Good,' Kirk said, 'because that's exactly what we're going to do.'

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter Six

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Six_

Admiral Richard Barnett did not like his new office. It was much too big, much too white and the furniture was too modern looking to suit his more conservative tastes. It did not help that the office had been previously occupied by the late Admiral Alexander Marcus and that Barnett found it difficult to disassociate the room from Marcus' involvement in the whole John Harrison crisis.

After all, Barnett now knew that Marcus had used this office as the headquarters for his own highly misguided, if not downright evil agenda. From his current position by one of the massive windows, the new head of Starfleet could still see the outcome of Marcus' tribulations in the literal scars that still covered a large part of San Francisco's downtown.

'Admiral,' he heard his secretary's voice through the speaker, 'I have the President for you, sir.'

'Put him on the viewer,' he replied while he rushed to take his seat behind his desk.

'Admiral Barnett,' President Jorge Martinez said.

'Buenos dias, Señor Presidente,' Admiral Barnett replied in the President's native language.

'We don't have time to waste,' the President said clearly wanting to skip all pleasantries, 'I just heard about the New Vulcan situation. What's the Enterprise doing there anyway? I thought she was away on that famous five-year mission to explore the uncharted territories.'

'She was,' Barnett replied, 'but her First Officer, Commander Spock, fell gravely ill and needed to be healed by his own people on New Vulcan, I authorised the detour myself.'

'I see,' President Martinez said, 'so how are the Klingon involved in all of this?'

'It appears a small fleet followed the Enterprise into New Vulcan space and they threatened the colony there. I ordered the USS Bradbury and the USS Missouri to be deployed as reinforcements.'

'And?'

'Mr President,' Barnett explained, 'it seems the Klingon forced Captain Kirk to beam out from the Enterprise and they're holding him hostage. The Klingon leader just contacted Starfleet demanding information about the person responsible of last year's attack on the Ketha Province. It appears one of the Klingon warriors killed in action was his only son.'

'Wasn't that John Harrison's doing?' the President asked.

'Yes, sir,' the Admiral replied, 'a few members of the Enterprise crew were also involved, Kirk himself was among them, but I understand it was Khan who killed most of the Klingons there.'

'What are their terms?' President Martinez asked.

'Captain Kalan, the Klingon leader, demands we surrender Khan to him,' Barnett replied.

'And if we don't?'

'They will kill Kirk and they will destroy New Vulcan and any ship we might send there,' Barnett said.

'We cannot allow that,' the President said immediately.

'I agree, which is why we need to act quickly,' Barnett replied, 'I've heard from the Bradbury and the Missouri; they're already being attacked by the Klingon warbirds posted in New Vulcan as we speak. Captain LeFevre from the Bradbury tells me that the Klingons seem to be sparing the Enterprise.'

'Why is that?'

'I don't know sir,' Barnett replied, 'furthermore, the Deep Space Station K-7 just reported that their scans picked up a massive Klingon fleet going into warp. I think these two incidents are connected.'

'You think they're heading for New Vulcan?' the President asked, panic obvious in his voice.

'I think so, Mr President,' Barnett said.

'Why would they do that?'

'I don't know, sir,' Barnett repeated, 'I can only assume Kalan requested reinforcements.'

'Deploy the main fleet,' the President ordered, 'we must get to New Vulcan before they do.'

'What are your orders?' Barnett asked.

'First and foremost, we must defend New Vulcan,' the politician replied then, he narrowed his eyes and said, 'we must also send a message to the Klingon Empire: the Federation is not afraid of them.'

'Sir, with all due respect,' the Admiral said, 'we cannot afford an all-out war with them right now. Not after the Nero and Khan incidents; Starfleet's resources are already running very low as it is.'

'I know that,' the President countered, 'which is why we must deliver a powerful enough blow to the Klingons now, this way they'll think twice about striking back.'

'Sir…'

'You have your orders, Admiral,' the President insisted, 'make sure you carry them out.'

'Yes, sir,' Admiral Barnett replied.

The communication ended right then and, for the umpteenth time that year, Richard Barnett wished he'd stayed at his beloved Academy. After all, nurturing young new talents had been what he'd enjoyed doing the most. Having to lead Starfleet into a potentially disastrous war, was definitely not.

On board the Enterprise and while most of her crew did their best to protect New Vulcan as well as trying to divert the warbirds' attention from the USS Bradbury so that her crew would have a much needed room to operate the repairs their shields badly needed, Lieutenant Uhura and Ensign Chekov were working furiously fast, trying to get the task assigned to them completed as soon as possible.

'I've just sent you the last of it,' Uhura told the young Russian.

'Okay,' Chekov replied not bothering to look up from his screen, 'oh, I've got it now, ma'am.'

Uhura couldn't repress a quick smile although hearing Chekov calling her that made her feel ancient.

'What's the status?' she heard Spock asking from the Captain's chair.

'We're almost done, _sir_,' Uhura replied, her smile vanishing from her face.

The Commander finally looked at her, for what was the first time in what felt like years. As usual, the Vulcan's expression betrayed no apparent emotions but Uhura still made an effort to see if she could spot somewhere in them the man she had fallen in love with. Alas, she could not.

Spock seem to be a complete stranger.

Feeling too upset to withstand the glance, she lowered her eyes and concentrated on checking any mistakes she might have made. The Communications Officer was grateful she had something to do to keep her busy but she was smart enough to know that, after they finished dealing with the current crisis, she would have to confront Spock to figure out what was happening to him.

'It's finished!' Chekov exclaimed happily.

'Understood,' Spock said, 'transmit it to my station, I will proceed from there.'

'Aye, Captain,' the Ensign replied, he then pressed a few buttons and said, 'it's done.'

Spock got up from the Captain's chair and, walking to his Science Station which was promptly vacated by Dr Marcus, he sat down and started preparing the package so that he could transmit it to Kirk the minute he called. Spock's highly trained mind prevented him from even considering a scenario where Kirk was caught before he could contact the Enterprise.

'Spock,' he heard Kirk's voice, the sound was enough for the Vulcan's tension to ease up a bit.

'We're ready,' he said, 'please stand by.'

'What's the situation out there?' Kirk asked him.

'The Bradbury and the Missouri have arrived,' Spock reported, 'the birds-of-prey launched an attack upon them as soon as they did.'

'What are they doing to us?' Kirk wanted to know.

'We are currently being spared from it,' Spock replied, 'it seems that they are honouring the terms you negotiated with them and are refraining from striking us or the New Vulcan colony.'

'I see,' Kirk thoughtfully said, 'Spock,' he then added, 'we can't take any risks with New Vulcan but if you think you have the tactical advantage, feel free to help the Bradbury and the Missouri.'

'Are you certain?' Spock asked.

'Yes,' Kirk said, 'I don't know why but you seem to be okay now and there's no one I trust more to do the right thing than you,' there was a pause in the transmission and that made Spock go into a panic, then, he heard his friend's voice again, 'okay, I just received the package, Kirk…'

'Jim,' Spock interrupted him before the Captain would end the transmission, 'Lieutenant Uhura and Mr Chekov would like you to know that they did what they could, however, the package might…'

'Spock,' Kirk stopped him, 'if it's Uhura and Chekov, it'll be perfect.'

'Jim…'

'It'll work,' he insisted, 'I'll make sure of it, just get me out of here as soon as you can, Kirk out.'

The transmission ended there leaving Spock looking very worried. From their stations and having heard Kirk's words, Uhura and Chekov both felt swelling with pride before renewing their efforts, alongside the rest of the bridge crew, so that they could get Kirk back on the Captain's chair.

The sooner the better.

From his latest hiding place on board the IKS Terror, Kirk kept an eye on the entrance of the room he had to get into to make his plan work. Being so close to the bridge, there was a lot of movement in terms of personnel, especially since it appeared they were still all frantically looking for him, but this could actually play in his favour, Kirk thought, as the Klingon would never expect to find him in what probably was the most heavily guarded area of the ship.

Wrapping himself with the heavy, hooded Klingon cloak he'd "borrowed", the Captain patiently waited until the moment he'd been looking for; inside the room, the two Klingon warriors were giving their backs to him while the other Klingon, the one who looked like a Science Officer, was kept very busy watching something on one of the displays.

Getting up, he dashed along the corridor and, before anyone had the time to notice him, he punched the button by the door, which slid closed, firing at it so that it would be inoperable. Then, he pivoted on his own feet and, with three clean shots, he proceeded to swiftly stun the three Klingons there.

'Okay,' he breathed deeply.

He regretted doing that because his ribs chose that moment to remind him how badly bruised they were. The flare of pain momentarily blinded him and Kirk found he needed to support himself on the Klingon table to calm down a little. He could not give in right now, not when he was so close.

Fighting to regain his composure, he closed his eyes for a moment then, he re-opened them and, taking his communicator, he looked for something that would look like a port of sorts. He found it beneath one of the consoles and, with the utmost care, he opened up the communicator, taking one of the cables from its circuit boards to connect it to the Klingon computer.

He then pressed the transmission button on it, and waited.

Kirk saw the moment his sub-routine was installed for, right at that moment, all the screens turned off, only to turn back on a moment later. The nine lights representing the D6 warbirds at New Vulcan appeared again only that, now, instead of green they appeared red.

'Yes!' Kirk exclaimed happily.

His joy turned into panic when he saw a flash travelling from the port into the communicator and, before he could pull it out, it fried its circuitry. The device fell, still fuming, onto the ground.

'Shit,' he whimpered feeling cold with horror.

He just realised that, badge-less and without his communicator, not only he could not contact the Enterprise but, what was even worse, the transporter would not be able to find him to beam him back on board.

At the same time, from his post at the helm, Sulu noticed the exact moment in which the scans reported that the warbirds' shields had been disabled. He didn't squander a moment to exclaim:

'It's worked!'

'Fire at will!' Spock ordered him, 'Mr Chekov, locate the Captain at once!'

'Yes, sir,' both men replied at the same time.

Strategically positioning herself in between the crippled USS Bradbury and the four Klingon ships that were currently busy trying to finish their job, the Enterprise quickly released a series of photon torpedoes which, one after the other, hit their intended target with surgical precision.

Sulu didn't wait to see if the ships had been blown up, relying on his scanners to tell him if that was the case. Instead, he engaged the impulse engines and, with Chekov's help, they put their ship in a trajectory that would intercept the other five warbirds currently pounding the USS Missouri.

His counterpart from the Missouri had obviously also seen that the enemy's shields were down and, very soon, the two Federation vessels joined in firing their arsenal on the Klingon ships, getting rid of two of them quickly enough and going in pursue of the other three that were trying to flee.

One of them was stopped by an authentic storm of Vulcan firepower coming from the surviving Vulcan fighters that, Sulu noticed with pleasure, had decided to re-join the melee so that they could avenge their fallen comrades; well, he mused, since the pilots were Vulcan, they would probably see revenge as an illogical sentiment. At any rate, with their help, less than five minutes later all that was left of the Klingon warbirds was a massive debris field.

'LeFevre has just issued the order to abandon ship,' Uhura informed them, 'they're evacuating the crew to the surface of New Vulcan.'

'Where's the Captain?' Spock asked clearly not caring about the Bradbury.

'Oh no,' they heard Chekov moan from his seat.

'What?' Spock almost barked.

'Please tell me you have him,' Sulu almost begged him.

'I did,' Chekov said miserably, 'but it's gone.'

'What do you mean _gone_?' Dr Marcus said not bothering to hide her panic.

'His signal was there,' a flustered Chekov explained, 'but it disappeared, sir…I…I don't know what happened.'

Once again, a very heavy silence fell upon the bridge. Uhura looked at Spock and saw that his usual pallor had become a lot more pronounced and was beginning to look as ill as she'd seen him before taking him down to New Vulcan. She was going to say something to him when she heard Sulu say:

'God help us.'

'What is it?' Spock forced himself to ask.

'I…' the helmsman hesitated, 'I hope I'm wrong but… I'm detecting a lot more incoming ships.'

'Klingon?' Spock asked.

'Yes,' Sulu replied, 'and ours as well.'

'We're being hailed,' Uhura then announced.

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter Seven

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Seven_

'We're being hailed,' Uhura repeated noticing Spock's lack of response, 'Commander…'

'Tell them to wait,' the Vulcan finally acknowledged.

'Commander,' Uhura said, her patience beginning to fail her, 'it's Admiral Barnett.'

The Acting Captain glanced at her from his chair and, for a moment there, Spock exhibited several emotions at once: surprise that the head of Starfleet would be contacting them; annoyance at the fact that they were wasting precious time; and a high level of anguish that they had lost their only chance to get Kirk back.

'On screen,' he brusquely ordered.

'Standby,' Uhura replied sounding almost inappropriately snappy.

If Spock noticed that he chose to ignore it, instead, he focused his attention back on the viewscreen that, an instant later, displayed Admiral Barnett's very serious face. The man's eyes widened in shock when he saw the Vulcan sitting on the Captain's chair, he recovered fast enough and, regaining his composure, he said:

'Commander Spock, I was under the impression you were gravely ill.'

'I was, Admiral,' Spock replied, 'but I am better now.'

'That's good,' Barnett said clearly meaning it, 'because I'm going to need all the talented officers I have.'

'Sir?' Spock asked.

'As you've probably seen through your scanners,' Barnett explained, 'there's a large Klingon fleet warping your way. We're not far and will be joining you soon, till then, if they show up, resist the best way you can.'

'Admiral…'

'I know the Bradbury's down,' Barnett interrupted him, 'but we'll be adding you and the Missouri to our battle plan. I know those bastards have Kirk and while I can't make you any promises, we will do our best to get him back.'

With that, the transmission ended leaving Spock with a million things he wanted to tell the Admiral. He briefly considered hailing him back but he had a number of more pressing matters, starting with figuring out a way to get Kirk back on their ship for, if one thing was clear to him and in spite of the Admiral's promises, Spock knew that he could not rely on anyone else but himself when it came to this specific task.

'Mr Chekov,' he said startling the poor navigator.

'Yes?' he still managed to answer.

'Do we have the Captain's last known location?' Spock asked him.

'Yes, sir, but…'

'Transmit the coordinates to the transporter room,' Spock said getting up.

'Sir,' Chekov dared to stop him, 'even if we know those coordinates, we don't know if the ship's still there.'

Spock paused to consider this. He of course knew that Chekov was right and in all likelihood, the coordinates they had were outdated. If he used them, the probabilities of him being beamed into the middle of space were over ninety six point eight percent. He was internally debating what to do when Sulu's announced:

'It's the IKS Terror! It's back, sir!'

Looking through the viewscreen he saw that the Klingon warbird had indeed just dropped out from warp, stopping right in front of the debris field that used to be her nine companion ships. Spock then asked:

'Are their shields up?' A moment went by and Sulu happily reported that they weren't. Spock then turned his attention to Chekov and said, 'relay their current coordinates to the transporter room right now.'

'Spock…' Uhura said.

'I'm beaming there,' he said using a tone that did not invite arguments, 'as a precaution, get Medical to send someone to the transporter room. Mr Sulu, you have the…'

He never completed the sentence for, right at that moment and to their utmost horror, they saw the USS Missouri firing several photon torpedoes on the newly returned Klingon warbird which took two direct hits.

'HAIL THEM NOW!' Spock yelled, 'ORDER THEM TO CEASE FIRE!'

Without waiting to see if his order was being complied, he ran off the bridge and into the turbolift. Uhura was shocked by the massive amount of sheer desperation she saw on his face but this didn't stop her from fulfilling her duties as Communications Officer as she hailed the Missouri and relayed Spock's orders.

'…Captain Kirk is still on board that ship!' she exclaimed to her counterpart on the Missouri.

A moment later, they saw the last of the photon torpedoes leaving the weapon's bay. Glancing at the IKS Terror, they saw that the warbird had suffered a major hull breach and that its entire superstructure was severely compromised. The Enterprise's bridge crew felt a collective cold shiver running down their backs.

Meanwhile, Spock had stepped on the pad when McCoy entered the transporter room followed by Scott.

'The laddie told me about what you're planning to do,' the Chief Engineer just said.

'We have Captain Kirk's latest location,' Spock explained, 'but…'

'I'll see what I can do,' Scott said literally shooing the poor crewman who had been manning the transporter.

'Bring that idiot home,' was all Dr McCoy asked.

'I will,' Spock promised.

A few interminably long seconds went by while Scott tried to come up with an educated guess regarding Kirk's current position then, after giving them a quick final check, he entered the new coordinates and said:

'I think I've got it.'

'Energise!' Spock ordered him.

The twirl of golden energy surrounded him. A moment later, he found himself in the middle of a dark, smoke-filled room that had served as some sort of tactical centre complete with a set of massive consoles set in the middle of it. The room was eerily quiet in stark contrast with the chaos that seemed to reign in the rest of the ship. Spock took a moment to notice the oxygen levels were very low, meaning that the ship's life support systems were already failing. Taking a step forward, he kicked something and, looking down he found the body of an unconscious, or perhaps dead, Klingon warrior.

Swallowing his mounting panic, he decided to throw caution out of the window and called out Kirk's name. Straining his acute Vulcan hearing, he couldn't hear any response and, feeling desperate, he thought that perhaps Scott had beamed him to the wrong place. Just as he was about to look for a way out, he heard it.

'Spock?'

It was faint, but it was coming from somewhere inside the room.

'Captain,' he repeated feeling elated with happiness, 'it's me, where are you?'

'I'm here,' Kirk replied, his voice still sounding way too feeble.

Spock rushed around the room and just as he removed one of the many random objects which were strewn across the floor, he saw him: Kirk was lying on the ground, with a heavy looking board lying on top of him.

He ran there moving faster than he'd ever done in his entire life. Soon, Spock found himself using every bit of his Vulcan strength to free Kirk up, disposing of the board as quickly as he could and, a moment later, he knelt by his severely injured Captain, cradling his feverish face with his two hands.

'Jim,' he muttered almost lovingly.

'I'm okay,' Kirk lied trying to smile at him.

'I must get you out of here,' Spock said and, not even bothering to ask Kirk if he could stand up, the Commander just slid his left arm beneath Kirk's knees, using the right one to lift him up from the ground.

'Spock,' Kirk tried to protest.

'Mr Scott,' Spock said ignoring him, 'I have retrieved the Captain, beam us back now.'

'Yes, sir,' they both heard Scotty's burr.

Shortly after, when the two of them re-materialised at the Enterprise's transporter room, Dr McCoy rushed to them just as Kirk tried to get himself down from Spock's arms while protesting as loudly as he could.

'Spock, honestly, I'm fine,' he tried to say but clearly the Vulcan wasn't buying it.

'Jim,' McCoy intervened, 'we must get you to…'

'I'm okay,' Kirk insisted finally stepping away from his two best friends. Just then, he wobbled visibly.

'The hell you are!' the doctor exclaimed rushing towards his best friend.

'Okay,' Kirk compromised holding onto him for balance, 'I'll need a bit of help to get to the bridge but…'

'The only place you're going to go is Medbay,' McCoy ordered him.

'No,' Kirk replied stubbornly then, making an effort to be more reasonable, he offered the doctor one of his winning smiles and promised, 'look, after we're done here you can play doctor with me all you want, okay?'

'I'm going to pretend you never said that,' McCoy replied looking a little disgusted.

Kirk's grin just widened a bit before he went back to being serious.

'Spock,' he said, 'while we go back to the bridge try to tell me everything I've missed while I was gone.'

The Vulcan exchanged a quick glance with the doctor who just shook his head in defeat.

'Just do it,' McCoy said, 'but,' he added glaring at Kirk, 'my hypo-spray and I will want to see you later.'

'I can't wait,' Kirk said feigning enthusiasm. He then noticed Scott there and offering him a genuine and grateful smile, he said, 'I take that Spock finding me was due to one of your usual miracles, wasn't it?'

'I was just doing my job, sir,' Scott replied looking very proud of himself.

'Well, thanks for that, Scotty,' Kirk replied.

With that, he allowed Spock to help him walk out of the room and along the short corridor that connected it with the bridge. Since his legs refused to support him properly, it took them an alarmingly long time to reach the ship's command centre and, by the time they finally made it there, Kirk felt like he'd ran a marathon.

'Captain!' the entire bridge crew shouted when they saw him appear.

Uhura was the first to reach him and, after welcoming him back with the mother of all smiles, she stepped away making room for Dr Marcus who seemed to freeze in front of him, as if she wasn't sure of what to do. Kirk lifted his left arm, the one he felt he could still move and, lightly squeezing her shoulder, he said:

'I promised you I would come back.'

She just nodded once, tears shining in her heterochromatic eyes.

'Captain…' Spock simply said. Kirk looked at him and then let the Vulcan lead him to his Chair and, very carefully, he sat down on it reeling on the fact that, somehow and at long last, he had made it back home.

'Mr Sulu,' he said issuing his first order, 'what's the ETA of the incoming ships?'

'Admiral Barnett's fleet should arrive in three minutes,' Sulu said, only his small smile betraying how happy he was to have his Captain back, other than that, he was as professional as ever, 'the Klingon should be…'

'They're already here!' one of the bridge officer's exclaimed.

'Get the shields up and sound the red alert,' Kirk ordered Sulu, 'Uhura, hail Admiral Barnett.'

'Yes, sir,' she said.

She was going to comply when they all saw a large fleet of Klingon warships: six D7-class, fifteen D6-class and several D4-class Birds-of-Prey all dropping out of warp not far behind the failing IKS Terror. The heavily damaged warbird chose that precise moment to blow up in a rather spectacular manner.

On board the Enterprise's bridge, they all swallowed hard while they waited to see what would happen next.

'I have him, sir,' Uhura said breaking the spectral silence.

'Put him on…'

Kirk stopped speaking when he saw the scenario unfolding in front of his eyes. For some reason, one after another, every single one of the warbirds that composed the Klingon fleet completed the same manoeuvre: making a one hundred and eighty degree turn, each and every one of them went back into warp.

'What the…' Kirk heard Sulu say mirroring his own thoughts.

'They've left,' Chekov confirmed, 'all of them.'

'Why?' Kirk asked him, having trouble deciding whether to feel utterly bewildered or just be happy.

'I don't know, sir,' Chekov said looking at him shrugging his shoulders.

'Captain,' Uhura reminded him, 'I still have the Admiral on standby, what would you like me to do?'

'Just tell him to get here as fast as he can,' Kirk ordered her.

'Yes, sir,' she said.

Two and a half minutes later, seventeen of the Federation's finest ships dropped out of warp led by the brand new USS Hope, built to commemorate the USS Vengeance's victims. Admiral Barnett was on board acting as her Commanding Officer and was just as confused as everyone else with what had happened.

'Hail the Enterprise,' he ordered his Andorian Communicators Officer.

'Yes sir,' she replied.

A moment later, on the viewscreen, he saw the very badly bruised face of Captain James T Kirk. The young man looked like he'd been used as a punch bag by a bunch of angry Klingons, which all things considered, probably wasn't too far from the truth. Whatever the case, Barnett was pleasantly surprised to see him alive, free and back in command of the Enterprise.

'Admiral,' Kirk greeted him tiredly.

'Captain Kirk,' Barnett greeted back, 'it's good to see you alive.'

'Yeah,' was all Kirk could come back with.

'If I didn't know better,' the Admiral commented, 'I'd say the Enterprise is a miracle machine.'

'I think she is, sir,' Kirk replied proudly.

'Speaking of miracles,' Barnett said, 'what happened to the Klingon fleet?'

'I'm not sure,' Kirk replied honestly, 'they just left, sir.'

'And I assume that huge debris field I'm seeing just ahead had nothing to do with it,' he asked with only a hit of amusement in his voice.

'Well, sir…'

'Just tell me how you did it,' Barnett asked.

'In academic vernacular,' Kirk said with a tiny smirk, 'I cheated.'

The Admiral's eyebrows shoot up his forehead and, for a moment there, he looked just as confused as everyone aboard the Hope's bridge then something clicked in his mind and, letting out a loud laugh, he said:

'The Kobayashi Maru, you pulled the same trick than when you beat the Kobayashi Maru.'

'Yes, sir,' Kirk confirmed trying not to sound too smug.

'Oh Kirk,' Barnett said this time not bothering to hide his smile, 'what am I going to do with you?'

'Well,' Kirk suggested cheekily, 'I guess you could give me a medal for…I don't know…original thinking?'

Barnett stared at him for a bit then, nodding once, he said:

'I might just do that. Now go and take care of yourself, you look horrible.'

'Yes, sir,' Kirk said.

'I expect a full report on my desk,' Barnett said, 'I think it's going to make quite an interesting reading.'

'It will be,' Kirk promised.

When the transmission ended, the Enterprise's Captain finally allowed himself to relax, he was about to lean back against the backrest of his chair when he saw tiny black spots impairing his eyesight and, before he could do anything to prevent it he was engulfed by darkness while his body simply shut down.

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter Eight

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Chapter Eight_

With the Enterprise keeping a steady position not far from New Vulcan, Scott found himself once again in command of his beloved ship while Spock kept vigil over an still unconscious Kirk, as he had ever since the Captain had collapsed on his chair nearly four days ago sending everyone into a frenzied panic.

The Chief engineer didn't mind being Acting Captain, just as long as he only had to supervise the operations to help New Vulcan get rid of all the debris resulting from the destruction of ten Klingon warbirds but, as he'd only recently discovered, if another crisis were to start right now, he'd rather find himself down in Engineering than sitting on the Captain's chair.

'I know what you mean,' Sulu had told him when he, Scotty and Chekov had been taking a break, 'every time they leave me in command, I find myself praying that nothing major will happen.'

'I don't know how the Captain deals with all of it,' Chekov ventured, 'or Mr Spock, for that matter.'

'They're a great team, those two,' Scotty said, 'and if you ask me, we're all lucky to have them in charge.'

Both Sulu and Chekov nodded their heartfelt agreement.

Down in Medbay, Uhura found Spock sitting by Kirk's biobed. She noticed that Spock had his hand placed very close to one of Kirk's but, to her, it seemed as though as Spock was hesitant to close the gap and touch Kirk's hand. To those unaware, this detail would have been unimportant but, to someone like her who had a reasonably good knowledge of the Vulcan customs, she knew that this gesture was a pretty big deal.

'Spock,' she called him, her own voice sounding strange to her.

Just as she'd predicted, her presence there made Spock withdraw his hand and, on his expression, she saw what looked like a hint of guilt. This, of course, was quickly replaced by Spock's usual impenetrable mask.

'Nyota,' he said managing to keep an unnervingly calm tone of voice, 'how can I help you?'

'I'm not here for you,' Uhura replied coolly, 'I just wanted to see if there had been any changes.'

'Unfortunately,' Spock said, 'there have been none.'

'Okay,' Uhura said, she was going to turn round when Spock got up from the chair making her stop.

'Nyota, I…'

She shook her head as if she was trying to exorcise some powerful unwanted feeling.

'Nothing's changed with us either,' she told him, 'like I said, I just wanted to check on him before I started my shift. The only thing I would like to ask of you is if you could please tell me when he wakes up.'

'Of course,' Spock replied with his usual emotionless tone of voice.

Swallowing her own pain, she removed her gaze from him and, taking a quick glance at their Captain's all-too inert form, she tried to control her own overflowing feelings before she turned round to leave the room.

A moment later, Spock sat back down and, just then, he noticed that Kirk's brilliant blue eyes were open.

'Jim!' he exclaimed.

'What was all of that?' Kirk asked him with a horribly weak sounding voice.

'How are you feeling?' Spock asked him, purposely ignoring the question.

'I feel like crap,' Kirk replied, 'but…'

A sudden fit of cough interrupted the sentence. Alarmed, Spock pressed the button by the biobed while he went to retrieve some ice chips that had been prepared for the occasion. Just as he was helping Kirk with them, Dr McCoy arrived followed by a couple of his nurses.

'Jim!' the doctor shouted. Immediately, he started waving his tricorder around the poor Kirk who, for once, was wise enough to submit to the whole thing without protesting too much, 'I was beginning to get worried.'

'Nah,' Kirk said, 'you aren't getting rid of me so easily.'

Dr McCoy stopped with the scans and, looking at the Captain, he allowed himself to be his very worried best friend and not just his physician. Carefully, he placed his hand on Kirk's shoulder and squeezed it a little.

'It's good to have you back,' he just said.

'Yeah,' Kirk replied.

'But,' Dr McCoy said going back to being business-like, 'Spock and I have come to an agreement.'

'What?' Kirk asked.

'Spock?' McCoy asked, as if prompting the Vulcan to take over.

'From now on,' he obliged, 'you are not to engage in any activities both the doctor and I do not previously approve of. Including but not limited to away missions and/or diplomatic encounters which might require your presence. Before you take part in any of those, Dr McCoy and I will evaluate the risks involved and, should we see fit, we will issue you with our authorisation to proceed.'

'You've gotta be kidding me,' Kirk said glancing from one of his best friends to the other.

'It is not a prank, Captain,' Spock replied.

'But…'

'Do not _but_ me!' McCoy exclaimed, 'I spent the past four days fixing you up: you had micro-fractures in every single one of the bones in your legs, your spine was compromised, you had three broken ribs, the beginning of a pneumothorax and multiple lacerations on both your arms as well as a concussion. You shouldn't even been able to walk, let alone go around on some suicide mission on a Klingon vessel!'

'Bones…'

'And I'm saving the best for last!' the doctor interrupted him, 'care to tell me how you got second and third degree burns all over your back? It took us hours just so that we could remove all the fabric that had got stuck on it and then I've had to use every technique I know of to re-grow that poor skin of yours!'

'Oh,' Kirk gasped, finally looking suitably guilty.

'Oh,' McCoy mimicked glancing at Spock, 'he says 'oh'!'

Kirk looked at Spock and, for a fleeting moment, it looked like the Vulcan was trying not to smile.

'Anyway,' the doctor continued, 'if you dare getting so much of a scrapped knee, I swear to God, I will tie you to that chair of yours so that you cannot do anything worse to yourself. Do I make myself clear?'

'Yes, sir,' Kirk said trying but failing to appear serious.

'Unbelievable,' Dr McCoy said as he stormed out of the room, followed by two very scared nurses.

'Spock,' Kirk started, 'you know this isn't over, don't you?'

The Commander lifted his eyebrow looking momentarily confused.

'The Klingon,' Kirk elaborated, 'I don't know why they left like that but I have the feeling we haven't seen the last of them yet. I don't know what Starfleet are planning on doing but, I would prepare for the worst.'

'I agree,' Spock said, 'I informed the Admiral of your condition but he requested we file our reports as soon as possible. I have already completed mine but, this time, I would like you to check it before I submit it.'

'Of course,' Kirk replied, 'thanks for that.'

'After the Nibiru incident,' Spock said, 'I feel it is necessary that we are…as humans say, on the same page.'

'Yeah,' Kirk said with a soft smile, 'speaking of being on the same page, what happened with Uhura?'

'What do you mean?' Spock said giving Kirk the distinct feeling the Vulcan was just buying himself time.

'I kind of overheard your conversation with her,' Kirk admitted.

'I see,' Spock said, Kirk saw him taking a deep breath as if he were preparing himself for a long speech, 'I informed her about _Pon Farr_,' he just said instead. Kirk then gave him a look as if egging him on to continue, 'she was not pleased when I explained her what I learned while in meditation at the new _Katrik Ark_.'

'What did you tell her?' Kirk asked her.

Spock, once again, fell silent.

'Come on, Spock,' Kirk said feeling a little frustrated, 'what did you tell her that was so bad?'

'As you may recall,' Spock finally said, 'I mentioned that I felt T'Pring's bond stronger than ever.'

'Yes,' Kirk replied carefully.

'As I began meditating,' Spock continued, 'I discovered that I had been mistaken and that the connection I felt in my mind was not the remnant of T'Pring's bond but, rather, a new bond that I formed only recently.'

Kirk was officially confused.

'Okay,' he just said not knowing what else to add.

'Jim,' Spock said with a soft tone of voice Kirk had never heard him using before, 'this new bond formed unbeknownst to us and in the most extraordinary circumstances, this is the reason I failed to identify it.'

'You've lost me,' Kirk finally said.

'On the contrary,' Spock replied as usual taking everything literally, 'at the moment of your passing, you became my _t'hy'la_, then you came back and from that moment forth, you and I became forever bonded.'

It took Kirk about fifteen seconds before his brain started working again.

'I am aware that this information is, overwhelming,' Spock started.

'Wait a moment,' Kirk interrupted him, 'what does _t'hai'lah_…er…'

'_T'hy'la_,' Spock corrected gently, 'it is a Vulcan expression.'

'What does it mean?' Kirk asked even though he already had a pretty good idea of what it meant.

'It is a very broad concept,' Spock explained, 'it encompasses every bond that there is between two people, that of brotherhood; of friendship and…of love. It is the deepest connection that can be formed between two beings.'

'Wow,' Kirk gasped, 'and…that's…we are that?'

'Yes,' Spock replied.

'How?' Kirk asked.

'I am not certain,' Spock replied, 'usually, for such a strong connection to form, the two parties must be aligned, aware and, above all, they must be willing to enter such bond. Our case can only be justified by the extreme circumstances in which it formed.'

'I see,' Kirk said, he was finding the whole concept easier to understand as he digested it, 'there's something I still don't get. From what I know about _pon farr_, you need to mate, exercise your right to _kal-if-fee_ or engage in meditation to assist you regain control of yourself.'

'That is correct,' Spock confirmed.

'So you used meditation to help you fight the effects of _Pon Farr_,' Kirk said.

'Partially, yes,' Spock replied, 'but the knowledge you were in mortal danger was what drove me out of it.'

'Well,' Kirk said with a grin, 'I'm glad it helped.'

'Jim…'

'I freaked out,' Kirk said dropping the smile, 'you were so sick and I couldn't do anything to help you. I…'

'I know,' Spock interrupted him, 'having suffered your loss before, I understand what you went through.'

'But you're alright now, aren't you?' Kirk asked him.

'I am,' he confirmed.

'Okay,' Kirk said the smile returning to his face making his eyes sparkle with joy as well as unshed tears, 'Spock,' he muttered, so low that only his Vulcan enhanced hearing picked it up, 'don't ever die on me, I've already lost too many important people in my life.'

'I shall endeavour,' Spock promised.

'About Uhura,' Kirk said trying to lighten up the mood, 'I don't know what happened exactly but…'

'She terminated our relationship,' Spock supplied, 'it is a logical outcome after what I explained to her.'

'Oh Spock,' Kirk laughed softly, 'who told you human females were logical?'

'But…'

'Spock,' it just occurred to him, 'you come from what possibly is the only species in the entire universe that can claim having logical females, yet you picked a human one. Who is being illogical here?'

Spock had the grace not to reply. Instead, he just lifted one of his eyebrows up.

Nearly a week after what was now being called the Battle of New Vulcan, the Enterprise was allowed to reassume her five-year mission. Their first stop: Kijani. The Federation had decided to accept Lieutenant Uhura's suggestion and had officially assigned that name to the stunningly green planet and after an away team sent by Commander Spock came back reporting that the planet was uninhabited, very safe and even more beautiful planet-side, Captain Kirk had decided to order shore leave to non-essential personnel.

To his dismay, Dr McCoy then ordered Kirk to "get his ass down too and take a freaking break".

'This is so peaceful,' Dr Marcus said while she and Kirk took a very slow stroll around one of the fields.

'It is,' the Captain agreed, 'we should sit down for a while.'

'Are you tired?' Carol asked him looking worried.

'No,' Kirk hurried to say, 'I just want to sit with my girl and enjoy the view.'

Dr Marcus smiled and, taking the blanket from the picnic basket she was carrying, she laid it on the grass, careful not to crush any of the incredibly beautiful flowers that seemed to grow everywhere.

'Thanks,' he said while she helped him sit down.

'You're welcome,' she replied, 'are you sure you're okay though? Should I call Dr McCoy?'

'No, no,' Kirk said shaking his head, 'he'd just jab me with a hypo-spray first and ask questions later.'

'That's true,' Dr Marcus said, 'but if you're feeling faint or…'

'You'll be the first to know,' he promised, 'now, let's stop talking about my health or lack of thereof.'

'Okay,' she agreed, 'what do you want to talk about?' she asked him.

'You,' he flirted making her laugh, 'no, I'm serious: tell me more about you, what do you…'

He couldn't finish the sentence for, right then, Spock showed up carrying a heavy metallic case.

'Captain,' he said, 'I have finished collecting all the samples, I shall now return to…'

'Wait,' Kirk stopped him. He glanced around himself and, selecting one of the best looking flowers, he picked it and offered it to Spock who proceeded to look very puzzled, 'it's for Uhura, find her and give this to her.'

'But Captain…'

'That's an order,' Kirk said pushing the flower into Spock's hand, 'tell her that seeing this beautiful flower made you think of her and that you would be extremely grateful if she could give you another chance.'

Spock looked doubtful for a moment but then, he took the flower and, nodding once, he said:

'I will do my best.'

'Attaboy,' Kirk said smiling at him.

The couple observed the Vulcan walking away from them, the metallic case in one hand, the flower in the other. Kirk hoped that Uhura would be wise enough to understand that, _t'hy'la_ or not, Spock still cared about her as much as she obviously did about him. His train of thought was interrupted when Dr Marcus said:

'I didn't know you were such a romantic.'

'There's a lot you don't know about me,' Kirk replied.

He then kissed her and the two spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other.

_To be concluded..._


	10. Epilogue

**Star Trek XIII – Welcome to Tomorrow**

_Epilogue_

Finding the proper place for a secret meeting both parties would accept had been, to say the least, challenging but, Commander Kor from the Klingon Defence Forces had been happy to receive an affirmative response from his Romulan contact when he suggested a small, uninhabited planetoid called Nimbus III.

This little insignificant rock was right in the middle of the Neutral Zone, in an area that not even the paranoid Romulan outposts would bother to scan. Commander Kor assumed, or rather, hoped that the Federation would not waste their time either. Just in case, he decided to leave a full fleet of D6-class warbirds keeping guard while and he and his party were planet-side waiting for the Romulan.

'Sir, are you sure they will come?' one of his officers asked him.

'Yes, they will,' Commander Kor replied confidently.

The Klingon group travelled to the meeting point, the Xinzar Caves, on foot: it was a very mountainous area famous for having sudden storms and flying a shuttle there would have been dangerous, this also applied to the Romulans so both of them would be certain that the other versed in the same exact conditions.

When they made to the Caves, they found the entrance they had seen through their scanners; it was a pretty large yet dark opening in the grey rock covered by plenty of vegetation: the perfect hiding place.

The Romulan arrived just as they finished installing the equipment they would need for the meeting.

'Greetings, Commander Kor,' the Romulan leader said.

'Greetings, Captain Decius,' Kor replied.

He quickly studied the Romulan party composed by twelve of Decius' most highly trained officers. Three of them looked strong, vicious and deadly enough to take down the twelve Klingon warriors Kor had brought with him all by themselves. The Klingon commander needed to tread very carefully indeed.

'Please, sit down,' he said offering the chair at the head of the rectangular table the Klingons had set up.

'After you,' Decius replied with obviously feigned courtesy.

'As you prefer,' Kor conceded taking the seat he had been offering.

After the Klingons had settled down, the Romulan leader ordered his officers to do the same.

Then a very uncomfortable silence fell upon both groups.

'So,' Captain Decius said finally breaking the ice, 'to what do we owe this pleasure?'

'This,' Kor replied.

With a slight gesture of his head, he ordered one of his men to press a button that started a 3D holovid showing three Federation ships. One of them appeared badly damaged, the other two, were in pristine order.

'What is this?' Decius asked him.

'A week ago,' Kor started, 'these three ships confronted one of our most advanced squadrons led by Captain Kalan, he was one of our best tactical officers and, this is all that was left of them after the confrontation.'

The image changed, showing a huge debris field and the moment the IKS Terror blew up to smithereens.

The Romulan Commander had the decency of showing his surprise.

'How did they do that?' he asked Kor.

'That's what we've been trying to figure out,' Kor admitted, 'our scientists theorise that one or probably all three of the Federation ships were armed with some shield-disabling device. I agree with that theory.'

'And why would you call us?' Captain Decius asked him.

Kor ordered for the first image to be recalled. Then, getting up, he pointed at one of the shapes and said:

'This ship's name, do you recognise it?'

The Romulan stood up too and, studying the ship's hull for a moment, he sat back down and said:

'I do.'

'Are you interested now, or aren't you?' Kor challenged him.

'I am,' the Romulan reluctantly replied.

'The Federation have been lying to us for years,' Kor continued, feeling more confident knowing he had a listening audience, 'they claim their intentions are honourable, that they want peace. Yet they build ships capable of destroying one of our most heavily armed squadrons and completely obliterate a radically more advanced Romulan vessel,' he stopped for effect and then he delivered his final blow, 'we cannot allow this farce to continue. We must strike now!'

The whole Klingon delegation erupted in a cheer of heartfelt agreement.

'What say you?' Kor dared the Romulans.

They all stared at their Captain expectantly then, Decius nodded and said:

'Commander, I believe you are right.'

'Good,' Kor replied.

'To defeat the Federation,' Decius concluded, 'the Romulan Star and the Klingon Empires must join forces.'

'That's right!' an elated Kor exclaimed.

'We will work on enhancing each others arsenals,' Decius proposed, 'and once we're ready, we will strike them. Commander Kor, wouldn't it be quite poetic if we started by finding and destroying their Enterprise?'

'I couldn't agree more,' Kor replied offering Decius his nastiest looking smirk.

'Let's get to work then,' the Romulan said.

_CONTINUES in Star Trek XIV - Tomorrow is Now_


End file.
